Black Skin White Mask is the title to a profound book on the subject of the minds of Negros.
Published in the 1950s this book eloquently and thought provokingly shatters identities, ideologies, lifestyles, and culture of the Negro populace and brings to question just what does the Negro man want and what is the soul of the Negro.
In this must read book, which is highly recommended to be in the curriculum of high schools across all public and private education institutions; the author calls the reader to take on subjects that has permeated its way into present day topics, issues and agendas.
How come in seventy years the African, Caribbean, African American Afro-Latin communities have not surpassed the very enriching recognitions the author mentions as hazards to the minds and future develop of the Negroid race?
To provide a quick summary of some of the talking points of the book without giving it away; in order for Negro people to fit in, in order to achieve success he or she would need to be more Eurocentric, causing his mind to split in persona between a Negro man and a White mind.
Somewhat like a hivemind. A hive mind is the “beliefs and knowledge that is shared by a group of people.” By holding on to such beliefs as “If you’re white, you’re alright. If you’re Brown you can stick around. If you’re Black – get back” or adopting religions, cultures and customs past on from slavery and post slavery.
If one was to examine the influence on a Negro slave across the colonies, historically there is a combination of African voodoo or other religious practices along with colonial ideologies, religions then lifestyle and customs that shaped and molded the generations to follow.
With each generation customs were passed on, which included the idea to be a Christian, one first had to be White.
The on looking Negro slaves, particularly the dark-skinned, were rejected from serving Christ. Even the Mormon Church has at one time rejected Negros from salvation and serving in its church.
One of its members went on to say that when Satan wants to bring evil into the world, he uses a “Black” man.
To many early scholars, anthropologists, scientists and philanthropists, the Negro was always a savage in need of White grooming to better fit amongst society, for without White presence he returns to his norm of savagery.
These statements are quite epic to read. And even more intriguing to analyze around systemic racism.
Is there any comparison to these ideas to todays social and economic issues? Issues such as drugs, crime, violence, prostitution, employment, identity and cultural economics.
The Reset Community has created a report that delves deeper into the answer to the above question. It is at the end of this article. It touches on the rate of response from all levels of government and who contributes most to the poor environment.
In the meanwhile, the very questions on how is the Negro mind different from or the same as the White mind was hot topic and indirectly is still.
This topic can seem off putting to some but to those with a thirst and zeal for intellectual learning and development this is like “Where’s the popcorn?”
Learning from “ole White men” their analytical breakdowns of Negros as a guide and comparison into today’s social issues really addresses what’s happening around systemic racism and the progress of the Negro and the development of the Negro mind.
It assists also when analyzing ideologies, philosophies and thoughts from other Negros to attain a better overview of comparisons and differences.
In comparing notes from Black Skin White Mask, during and previously to the start of research into systemic racism, there was a recognition of an unspoken ideology of Black excellence as the best Black White Black people.
You had to speak a certain way, better if you went to certain schools, dress a certain way and most importantly refrain from touching on subjects that would upset White people, which has over time compromised the moral ethics of many Negros in their various professions.
This results in delays across many critical and key areas including the rate of cultural, social and political advancement and economic identity across the Negro populace.
Wearing a Black skin White mask according to Fanon, author of Black Skin White Mask delays progress not just for Negros but also the White populace who might uphold this ideology and goes on to say Black and White have been “duped.”
Seventy years later and not much as changed in the formula.
Anthropologist Robert Bennett Bean wrote in the early 1900s:
There is a large number of deaths resulting from acute illnesses and from accidents among the Negroes, giving a large number of brains from normal individuals….a large number of Negro bodies are regularly disposed of to anatomists indicates less respect for the dead among Negroes…it follows that more of the better class of Negroes would be received, since the whites greatly outnumber the blacks in Baltimore. It is well known that only the lowest classes of whites are unclaimed, especially among the women, who are apt to be prostitutes, or depraved, or the like, while among the Negroes it is well known that even the better class neglect their dead…It is a well attested fact that the Negroes are roaming over the country without fixed abode in greater numbers than the whites and this might result in many stray unclaimed bodies of the better classes of Negroes being turned over to anatomists, and finally, many mulattoes and and mixed bloods are included among the Negroes.
In many underserved communities there are issues related to drugs and prostitution. Many residents have expressed their concerns regarding this in their communities and we shall touch on this subject deeper in another post.
In the above mentioned quote, there is a chilling reference “It is well known even the better classes of Negroes neglected their dead.”
The same can be said when relating to other social issues. The notion of advancing by appealing to Euro intellect while downplaying Negro essence to not provoke hate, insecurity, jealousy or threat amongst a White colleague in order to advance socially and economically. These Negros according to Fanon and also W E B Dubois become tools for social advancement advantageous to White progress steering Negros further away from true self, identity and soul.
We shall delve further into that topic in another post, however there is a connection between the mental, social and cultural development of the Negro populace that can go beyond the years of the 16th century but we’ll take it about there for now.
Let us examine science in its many forms such as the use of the ontology of economics which supposes what is x or what is the philosophy of x.
What is Black?
What is Black culture?
It has been stated that while it is possible to respond to such questions with real verbal definitions, the philosophical value of posing such questions actually aims at shifting entire perspectives as to the nature of the foundation of the question i.e. (economy – state of being – mind state)
It can even go on to cause a ripple effect such as trends, cultural norms or cultural identities.
From the ontology of economics lets explore the philosophy of biology. There is a very revered anthropologist that states “every doctor should be a philosopher. ” And perhaps maybe they are philosophers.
The philosophy of biology is considered a sub field of the philosophy of science dealing with epistemological, metaphysical and ethical issues with well known philosophers such as Aristotle, Descartes and Kant contributing works instrumental in Western Academics.
Through these works on the above subjects one can trace the pattern and sequence of thought-mind influence overriding the soul – genetic sequence to replace with new ideologies.
In metaphysics, identity is a fundamental concern. Metaphysicians investigating identity are tasked with the question of what, exactly, it means for something to be identical to itself, or – more controversially – to something else.
Another question of identity arises when we ask what our criteria ought to be for determining identity, and how the reality of identity interfaces with linguistic expressions.
Identity, sometimes called ‘numerical identity’ is the relation that a thing bears to itself, and which no thing bears to anything other than itself.
A modern philosopher who made a lasting impact on the philosophy of identity was Leibniz with his work Law of the Indiscernibility of Identicals which happens to still be widely accepted today. It states that if some object x is identical to some object y, then any property that x has, y will have as well.
His work provides further insight that as an object persists, its extrinsic properties can change over time and properties that relate to other objects would change even if this object does not change.
Among these scholars they state self-identity is necessary, as it seems fundamentally incoherent to claim that any x is not identical to itself; known as the law of identity, a putative “first principle.”
Aristotle also describes the principle of non-contradiction as:
It is impossible that the same quality should both belong and not belong to the same thing … This is the most certain of all principles
Therefore from a philosophical, ontological, and metaphysical approach to have a “Black” Skin White Mask is a form of process that alters from the first principle of identify where there should be no contradictions.
Yet there is!
Black once meant White. Therefore to be Black skin with a White mask while being Black which means White is beyond contradictions.
We have other work to follow up further on this insightful topic. For now, we have attached a copy of our report on systemic racism in under-served communities.
The report was created earlier this year and is now being released to the public. The Sustainable Community Report identifies current issues with recommendations.
We’ll share an updated report in another post elaborating on our findings through field study into institutional racism and cultural identity.
Before going, be bold and courageous! Take The Negro Test.
Bean shared his ideas on qualities he deemed mostly associated with Negros and those most associated with Europeans. We’ve put together a test with a few of those “ideas” so you can do your own self-test.
It’s all innocent and worth a poke at inside your own mind.
#SustainableCommunity #Sustainable #Identity #CultureReset #ResetSociety #LetsResetNow
THE RESET COMMUNITY 