Black Skin, White Masks: Introduction Summary & Analysis

Fanon begins with a quote from Discourse on Colonialism by the Martinician writer Aimé Césaire, which describes the negative psychological impact of empire on colonized peoples. Fanon warns that he is not “the bearer of absolute truths,” and that no one asked him to write this book, particularly not the people “for whom it is intended.” He considers the different ways people address race and the legacy of colonialism, which he feels are inadequate. To Fanon, the truly important questions are: “What does man want?” and “What does the black man want?” He argues that “a Black is not a man,” and that instead black people exist in a “zone of nonbeing.”

Fanon’s aim is to “liberate the black man from himself.” He refuses to sympathize with the perpetrators of colonialism and denounces both white people who patronizingly “love” black people and black people who try to make themselves white. Fanon wanted to write the book three years ago, but was too angry to do it then. He seeks to understand the relationship between races, and argues that while black people want to be white, white people try to live up to the “rank” of whiteness. Both are trapped within their own race. Some whites see themselves as superior to black people, and some black people try desperately to prove that they are equal to whites—all of which adds up to a cycle that needs to be broken.

Fanon argues that it is essential to use psychoanalytic thought in order to understand black experience. According to the psychoanalytic framework, the problems people experience—both personally and socially—tend to originate in childhood. Starting in childhood, black people develop an inferiority complex that is initially rooted in their economic oppression, and then in their internalization of the idea that they are inferior. Fanon emphasizes that even though the psychological element of oppression is crucial, liberation can only come about through material (economic) redistribution.

Thus far in history, the relationship between black people and white people has created “a massive psycho-existential complex” that Fanon aims to “destroy” through analysis. He is aware that many people—both black and white—will not be able to see themselves in the descriptions he gives, and argues that if people do recognize themselves, then this is a sign of progress. Fanon insists that he is writing for the present, rather than the future. He describes the structure of the book’s contents, pointing out that the fifth chapter—which describes black people’s journey to understand black identity—is especially important. Fanon argues that white culture has created a false image of black people, which makes it difficult to grasp the true nature of black identity.