The main theme of Frantz Fanon (1967) in Black Skin, White Masks is the “disalienation of the black man” (38). Fanon uses language as a primary example of how oppressive, dominant cultures often alienate minority cultures from themselves and each other through reinforcing the values and beliefs of the dominant culture as “superior” to those of the minority culture. To Fanon the white man is sealed in his whiteness and the black man is sealed in his blackness, without the possibility of integration. In a pernicious process, norms of the white culture are reinforced through social institutions in ways that posit them as superior to those of minority cultures. This not only keeps change from occurring in society, but it also serves to manifest feelings of low self-worth in blacks that make them want to alienate themselves from their very self. This is what Fanon (1967) means by alienation when he states, “A Senegalese learns Creole in order to pass as an Antilles. I call this alienation. The Antilles Negroes who know him never weary of making jokes about him: I call this lack of judgment” (38).
Fanon gives an excellent example of this process when he discusses the separate perspectives of the white man and the black man both watching the film Tarzan. The black man immediately identifies himself as Tarzan fighting the savages, but the white audience identifies the black man as one of the savages. This cause black individuals to internalize negativity because of the dual consciousness of what and who he is that contrasts with the dominant and socially reinforced as “superior” society. If he is aggressive in response to such conflict, he will become enslaved by his own unconscious conflicts. However, if he reacts with love in spit of the negative social environment, he is able to remain true to his identity and love himself. This makes him capable of caring about himself and, thus, about others. This is simila...