Self-Image and Self-Hatred Theme Analysis

As noted in other themes, Fanon argues that colonialism has corrupted people’s understanding of themselves. Black people have an image of themselves that is distorted—a negative image constructed by white colonizers. Black people experience the weight of being “hated, detested, and despised” by white society. This leads to feelings of shame and self-hatred. Many black people try to become “more white” as a result, which only induces further shame due to the hopelessness of that task. Fanon describes this experience in visceral terms: “Shame. Shame and self-contempt. Nausea.”

Fanon argues that black people’s feelings of self-hatred are not only rooted in the internalization of negative stereotypes about their race—but that these feelings also stem from a general lack of recognition of black people as human. He writes: “A feeling of inferiority? No, a feeling of not existing.” Fanon implies that this sense of not existing is actually worse than the internalization of the negative ideas about black people created by the colonial mentality. One can try to overcome or disregard negative stereotypes, and even though this might not be fully successful, it can at least create a counter-discourse in opposition to the racist ideas that dominate society. By contrast, the ontological denial of black existence is a far more difficult phenomenon to address directly, and is therefore arguably even more deeply damaging. Approaching one’s understanding of oneself from a place of nothingness provides no tools for forming a sense of self-worth or a positive self-image.

Fanon laments the negative impact of colonialism on the formation of black identity. As a result of the transatlantic slave trade, black people born in the Americas have no connection to Africa, their ancestral homeland. They do not know the history, language, and customs of their ancestors, or even the specific regions of the continent from which they originate. Black people from colonized countries are encouraged to identify as colonial subjects rather than members of the African diaspora, and are taught to feel disdain for African people, as Fanon indicates when he recalls how he once felt pride in being Antillean and disgust at the “savage” Senegalese. Of course, these feelings of pride and disgust are manipulated by colonial culture in the interests of the colonizers. When black people like Fanon feel shame and hatred toward Africans, this sows division among black people generally, and furthermore becomes a form of self-hatred. All of this helps to preserve the power of the colonizers and prevent black people from seeking power and revenge against the whites who have so gravely wronged them.

Even within black communities, colonized subjects are taught to hate their own blackness and to distance themselves from members of their race who they believe embody negative stereotypes about black people. Fanon recalls that at times when he misbehaved as a child, he would be scolded for behaving like a “nigger.” Once again, Fanon argues that this kind of self-hatred fractures black people’s sense of their own identity. Anyone who is taught to hate a fundamental part of themselves will not only be tormented by self-contempt, but will also feel confused about who they are. This is related to the theme of erasure of black existence and the feeling of alienation this causes in black people. Fanon argues that white Western culture has no true understanding of the experiences of black people, only lies. As a result, Fanon argues that it is difficult for black people to gain an understanding of themselves that is separate from conceptions of whiteness, and therefore also tainted by self-hatred.