Frantz Fanon states that, even though his spirit is filled with a desire to attain, he finds that he is simply “an object in the midst of other objects”. In “The Fact of Blackness”, Fanon delves into this “crushing objecthood”, as he sheds light on the evident oppression and undeniable resilience of the black man.

Fanon opens the discussion with the term Ontology, which on a basic level, has to do with the nature of being. It is a set of concepts and categories in a subject area that show the properties between them, such as the relation between the white man and the black man. Fanon states, “not only must the black man be black; he must be black in relation to the white man” (1) Essentially, the relation between the two will always result in the inferiority of the black man; the lesser man.

As the piece progresses, Fanon dives into this concept of consciousness and the importance of finding his “tune”. His narration comes alive with first hand accounts of racism and an overwhelming fear and discomfort in the white man’s world. He says that, “the real world challenged my claims. In the white world the man of color encounters difficulties in the development of his bodily schema. Consciousness of the body is solely a negating activity. It is a third-person consciousness. The body is surrounded by an atmosphere of certain uncertainty” (2) Fanon then discusses the actions he would have to take to reach for cigarettes and matches, if he chooses to smoke. He states that these actions are not out of habit, but of implicit knowledge. He says, “a slow composition of my self as a body in the middle of a spatial and temporal world—such seems to be the schema. It does not impose itself on me; it is, rather, a definitive structuring of the self and of the world—definitive because it creates a real dialectic between my body and the world.” (2) Soon after, he goes into racial epidermal schema, which he claims is what tears down this basic corporeal schema and sets the black man apart. It forces him to be aware of his body in the “triple person”. He states that he exists triply, by occupying space, moving towards the other, and the evanescent other. His use of this word is clever, as he calls it “hostile but not opaque, transparent…” (3) It is not only the other, but the sneaky and prevalent form of the other that lingers and keeps the black man down.

“I was responsible at the same time for my body, my race, for my ancestors. I subjected myself to an objective examination, I discovered my blackness, my ethnic characteristics; and I was battered down by tom-toms, cannibalism, intellectual deficiency, fetishism, racial defects, slave-ships, and above all else, above all: “Sho’ good eatin’.” (3)

I found this striking because Fanon is able to include the heavy burden that sets the black man apart in just a few lines. He includes all the stereotypes and misconstrued ideas that are linked to the existence of the black man. His ability to make the argument personable and honest allows the reader to identify with his struggle and see just how irrational the white man is.

Fanon continues to discuss how all he wishes to be is a man that can help build the world together. It is this innocent and simple gesture that further proves how the white man “unmercifully imprisoned” him and countless others. Fanon mentions the time in which a child feared him, assumed he would eat him, simply because he was shivering from the cold. This is the most obvious form of racism, as it is explicit and straightforward. However, Fanon is able to include other forms of it, such as the subliminal or passive aggressive forms.

One of the ways he does this is by comparing the black community to the Jewish community. He states, “the Jew is disliked from the moment he is tracked down. But in my case everything takes on a new guise. I am given no chance…I am the slave not of the “idea” that others have of me but of my own appearance” (5) Although there was, and still is today, plenty of Antisemitism, it does not compare to the discrimination towards the black man, as it has to do with a dislike towards their beliefs or ideals rather than their appearance. Another instance of racism that Fanon discusses is what many consider the “back-handed compliment” type, which is rather passive aggressive and is most of the time worse than the obvious, straight forward kind of racism. He includes some examples, such as, “Oh I want you to meet my black friend…Aime Cesaire, a black man and a university graduate…Marian Anderson, the finest of Negro singers….Dr. Cobb, who invented white blood, is a Negro…Here, say hello to my friend Martinique (be careful, he’s extremely sensitive)…” (5) I found this interesting, as it is something that was clearly prevalent in the fifties, and still is today. By structuring sentences this way, there is more damage done, as the ‘compliment’ is completely shrouded by the very obvious tinge of racism. This is still seen today, for example, when individuals say things like “oh, she’s pretty for a black girl”. Fanon follows these examples by saying, “when people like me, they tell me it is in spite of my color. When they dislike me, they point out that it is not because of my color. Either way, I am locked into the infernal circle” (5) Ignorance is the greatest factor when it comes to situations such as these.

Fanon discusses many different aspects that tie into the inferiority of the black man, but it is refreshing to see how his words can still find the ability to be optimistic and resilient. I enjoyed his method of writing, as it encouraged me to feel sympathize, while still informing me on the cold, hard facts. I specifically liked one of the closing lines, where he says, “my Negro consciousness does not hold itself out as a lack. It is. It is its own follower” (16) Eventually, he comes to terms with how the world has rejected him based on color prejudice and he decides to to move back towards unreason. He regresses, in order to make the white man more irrational than himself. As he closes out the piece, he includes songs and poems that reflect on the black experience. The words depict the struggle and pain that the black man has faced, and continues to face today, but above all, it shows strength and perseverance. He says, “the white man, I could see, was resentful. His reaction time lagged interminably…I had won. I was jubilant”. (14)

The Fact of Blackness by Frantz Fanon gives us a look into his life and experiences as a black man. We see how Fanon tackles racial identity while trying to find his own identity in a large pool of white power. “Dirty Nigger” or “Look, a Negro”. Fanon starts his essay with these words and they automatically bring the reader back to a time where this language was so prevalent. “Look, a Negro” are the three words that are the beginning of the detached third person consciousness that he experiences when he comes into contact with ‘the other’. ‘The other’ first comes in the form of a little white boy. “Mama, the nigger’s going to eat me up” said the white boy that showed fear toward Fanon. The child has been taught that black people are animals, bad people, mean and much more negative things. Even though the child has never met Fanon before, he believes that he know about him because of prejudiced mindset that was passed down to him. Fanon realizes that he has to make an identity out of a path that was already made for him. The detached feeling that embodies Fanon comes from suddenly coming into contact with a ‘white world’. The white world rejects blacks as people and places different kinds of characteristics and histories on them. Black people are then forced to learn and accept everything that this ‘white world’ has pushed upon them.

Fanon explains about being confined in the historicity of being black. Being black can not be overlooked. The racial epidermal schema makes Fanon bound to the actions of his ancestors. His ancestors who partook in cannibalistic activity and have experienced slavery. Hostile behavior is still prevalent to Fanon even though he is separated for over hundreds of years from his ancestry. Fanon now has to look at himself as a triple person because he has to be responsible for his body, his race, and his ancestors. He tries to find some structure through which to understand himself, and be proud of being black. Later, he tries to reason with racism but discovers “for a man whose only weapon is reason there is nothing more neurotic than contact with unreason”.

Fanon wants to exist freely in society as a black man without having to constantly defend himself. In today’s society racism has not gone away but, it has only transformed. Racism plays a major role in today’s societies and has indiscreetly become the social norm. We may have moved past Jim Crow but race still dictates for many people who they hire, sell products to, or rent housing to. If Fanon could look down and look at where our society is right now, I don’t think he would be happy with the current status of the society. Especially, with Donald Trump as our president.

So, what is the fact of blackness?  Having your identity already predetermined by others.

What I got from the Althusser’s article on “Ideology and Ideological State Apparatus (Notes Towards an Investigation) is that- what is essential to production is not just the reproduction of the necessary materials necessary for production but perhaps even more vital is reproducing the ideology. Althusser states this clearly in the beginning of his articles “the ultimate condition of production is therefore the reproduction of the conditions of production.” (127). Without the ideology there would be no reasoning or truth to sustain the mechanism. This reminds me of our previous readings on hegemony. What I also understand from the reading is that all these system are interrelated and cannot be separated.

An example that comes to mind in regards to Althusser’s claims- is the production of skin bleaching creams and reproduction that is necessary to hone in consumption. The production, Althusser mentions would not survive more than a year if they were not invested in the reproduction. Part of the reproduction of skin bleaching creams is first the tools to make the product, then the demand is in itself needs to be continuously sold to the public so that it can be consumed. A skin bleaching cream is self explanatory as intended to make ones skin lighter however the underlying assumptions under a skin bleaching cream- is to make ones skin “whiter” and thus “better”. One wouldn’t buy a skin bleaching skin cream unless they were buying also into the ideology that one’s skin needed to be lighter. In under for the skin bleaching cream to sell thus there must be an ideology around how white skin is better, which is upheld by white supremacy. This ideology can manifest through different ideological state apparatus and Repressive State Apparatus which Althusser also greatly expands in his article. In the ideological state apparatus- institutions like the media will for example will use their platform which is embedded with white supremacy to either by force spread this ideology or “mistakenly”. An example that I can think of currently is Dove’s infamous skin ad on Facebook which portrays a dark skin model molding and turning into a white skin model. This ad is thus portraying that white skin is the ideal goal, and thus insinuates anti-blackness. The ideology of white supremacy supports the consumption of skin bleaching cream as by consuming the skin bleaching cream you are okaying the underlying ideologies- which is that white or lighter skin is better. In Althusser’s article he mentioned how “In order to think this mechanism, which leads to a kind of ‘endless chain’, it is necessary to follow Marx’s ‘global’ procedure”, (129) which he mentions includes production of means of production and production of means of consumption. To me this signifies that there are various systems at play that must be reproduced for a particular product to be sold. In terms of the skin bleaching cream I know that there are various institution that reinforce this ideology worldwide, especially because how much western countries produce media. That leaves a lot of the world, that isn’t white, consuming media that reinforces ideas around white supremacy.