Black Skin, White Masks

by

Frantz Fanon

The agrégation is a French civil service examination, which is part of the higher education system in France. It is highly competitive: only the very best students in France take it, and only a portion of those who take it are able to pass. The agrégation qualifies people to teach at the lycée level––the final and most competitive stage of French secondary education.

Agrégation Quotes in Black Skin, White Masks

The Black Skin, White Masks quotes below are all either spoken by Agrégation or refer to Agrégation. For each quote, you can also see the other terms and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Colonialism, Diaspora, and Alienation Theme Icon
).
Chapter 1 Quotes

When an Antillean with a degree in philosophy says he is not sitting for the agrégation because of his color, my response is that philosophy never saved anybody. When another desperately tries to prove to me that the black man is as intelligent as any white man, my response is that neither did intelligence save anybody, for if equality among men is proclaimed in the name of intelligence and philosophy, it is also true that these concepts have been used to justify the extermination of man.

Related Characters: Frantz Fanon (speaker)
Page Number: 12
Explanation and Analysis:
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Black Skin, White Masks PDF

Agrégation Term Timeline in Black Skin, White Masks

The timeline below shows where the term Agrégation appears in Black Skin, White Masks. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1: The Black Man and Language
Colonialism, Diaspora, and Alienation Theme Icon
Knowledge vs. Ignorance Theme Icon
Desire, Aspiration, and Competition Theme Icon
...is true, it shouldn’t really be surprising considering Césaire is “a Martinican with a university agrégation.” (full context)