A Fanonian Perspective on Double Consciousness Author(s): T. Owens Moore Reviewed work(s): Source: Journal of Black Studies, Vol.

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A FANONIAN PERSPECTIVE ON DOUBLE CONSCIOUSNESS

T. OWENSMOORE
ClarkAtlanta University

This studyexaminesthe historicalparallelbetweenthe intellectualworkof W.E.B.Du Bois and FrantzFanon.In 1903, Du Bois coined a termcalled "double consciousness"to explain the thought process of being both a Negro (i.e., Black) andan American(i.e., non-Black)in the United States. Fifty years later,Fanon wrote a detailed analysis of a similar theme in a book called Black Skin, WhiteMasks. From two differenteras, these two scholars/activistsprovided valuable informationon the mental conflict associatedwith havinga dualidentity.Toprovidethebasis for findingsolutions to the many social crises experiencedwithin the Black community,a Fanonianperspectiveon double consciousness will be discussed. In conwill be put forth to focus on a single-minded clusion, a recommendation and consciousnessto rescue,to reconstruct, to revitalizethe mindsof those who have been miseducated. Keywords: Frantz Fanon; W.E.B. Du Bois; double consciousness; African Americans

Slightly more than 100 years ago, W.E.B.Du Bois (1903) wrotea classic book called TheSouls of BlackFolk.Du Bois used the term "double consciousness" to help explain the mental conflict that exists for manypeople of Africandescentliving in NorthAmerica. Nearly 50 years later and in a far distantland, FrantzFanonpublishedhis firstbook, BlackSkin,White Masks,in French,andit was into translated Englishin 1967 (Fanon,1952/1967). Fanon'stheme was very similarto Du Bois's thoughts,butthereis little to no documentedevidence thatlinks the intellectualcareersof Du Bois and of Fanon.To celebratethe 100 year anniversary TheSouls of Black this articlewas writtento providea Fanonianperspectiveon Folk, double consciousness.
JOURNALOF BLACKSTUDIES, Vol. 35 No. 6, July 2005 751-762 DOI: 10.1177/0021934704263839 2005 Sage Publications

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Du Bois (1903) definesdoubleconsciousnessas "apeculiarsensation. . . this sense of alwayslooking at one's self throughthe eyes of ... One ever feels his twoness,- an American,a Negro . . . two unreconciled strivings"(pp. 16-17). Although stated 100 years ago, double consciousness is still a dilemmathat African Americans must contend with in this White-dominatedsociety. Most AfricanAmericansfeel it is safe to say we are all Americansuntil they experience a rude encounterwith racism. In contrast,many may only identifywith theirBlacknessandriskbeing isolatedfrom society and friends.A balancingact must be maintainedto reduce mentalconflict, and double consciousness has been one solution. Double consciousness implies the thought process of being a Negro (i.e., Black) or an American(i.e., non-Black).To be a Negro is to be colored,Black, AfricanAmerican,or to be associatedwith the cultural heritagethatstemsfromAfrica.Tobe Americanis to be a Black person in skin pigmentationwho mentallyidentifies with White people and Europeanculture.For today, it is implied that doubleconsciousnessis a struggleto be both an AfricanAmerican as well as an American. Outside the context of America,.Fanon (1952/1967) espoused a similartheme in his work by expressing, "Withouta Negro past, withouta Negro future,it was impossible for me to live my Negrohood. Not yet white, no longer wholly black,I was damned" 138). Essentially,doubleconsciousnessis (p. as a survival technique, but it can be considered adaptive because it can generatementalconflict. maladaptive

MENTAL CONFLICT

Since the establishmentof this White-dominatedand Whitecontrolledsociety, mental conflict has been in existence from the inception.Mentalconflict was generatedon the side of the oppressor (e.g., the FoundingFathers)because of the hypocrisy of their agenda.Thereis no possible way to developa democraticandequal society when the White people who were writingand implementing the laws considerednon-White people to be less thanhuman. The hypocrisyof the FoundingFathershas passed on a social dis-

Moore / A FANONIAN PERSPECTIVE 753

ease (Forbes, 1992) that will never be eradicatedin this society because the democratic principles were formed under a false premise. In an attemptto be mentally healthy in this insane society, the oppressedor exploitedcan developadaptiveas well as maladaptive responses. An adaptiveresponse might entail an accommodating mentalitythatvacillatesbetweenbeing a "Negro"or an American. On the otherhand,a maladaptive responsecould be to changeyour and to take on the characteristics the oppressor.In the of reality midst of these two diametricpositions is mentalconflict. To ward belief thatone mustgeneratea off mentalconflict, it is this author's fever of resistance.There is a plethoraof other historicalfigures to mention,but Du Bois and Fanonare chosen as two individuals who openly resisted the oppressor'smanipulationof their mind. AlthoughDu Bois was a sociologist and Fanonwas a psychiatrist, they were professionally connected as scholars/activists who attemptedto define theirown realityin a racist society. It is not psychologicallyhealthyto measureyour worththrough the eyes of others.Moreover,it is not psychologicallyhealthyto be denied full expressionof your Blackness or manhoodin a Whitedominated society. If we take the discussion out of Black and White, then any oppressedpeople are forced to live with mental conflict when they confronttheiroppressoron an intellectuallevel. Du Bois and Fanon tried to find balance in their Blackness and therearemanylessons to learnfromtheirlife history.In sum, they championedthe cause for freedomfor all oppressedpeople.

HISTORICAL PARALLEL BETWEEN DU BOIS AND FANON

Du Bois was 57 years old when Fanon was born in 1925. It is figures were bornin 1925 interestingthattwo otherrevolutionary (i.e., Malcolm X and Patrice Lumumba).It must have been an exciting time if they all crossed pathsduringtheirworldly travels. Du Bois was an established scholar well before Fanon began to conceptualizehis thoughts on Blackness. It is uncertainto what extentthe seniorDu Bois influencedthe youngerFanon,but there

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was potentialoverlapin theircareers.They werefromtwo different for worlds,butthey hadconjoiningthoughtsthathavereverberated decades. Du Bois's double consciousness sounds as though it is echoed in Fanon'sfirst book, Black Skin, WhiteMasks. Reflecting on the struggles of these two scholars/activists,the 1940s were an intellectuallytumultuousperiod for both individuals. For instance, after 10 years of teaching and researchingat Atlanta University (AU), a historically Black college and university (HBCU), Du Bois's presence became irritatingto the administration. a bold thinker, is not surprising he experithat As it enced opposition at the prestigiousAU. It is unfortunate, too but oftenHBCUsbreedbackward adminandnonprogressive thinking istrators becausethese institutionsaremanagedsimilarto a plantation or a neocolonial empire.In the case of Du Bois, the AU president Rufus Clementforced Du Bois to retire.Accordingto Taylor Branch(1988), Spelman'sPresidentReadfinally triumphed her in 10-yearguerillawar againstDu Bois. Although she was neithera scholarnor an educator,her informalposition as the Rockefeller representative gave her an overridingstrengthat all of the schools in the AU center.She was on the boardof trusteesfor Morehouse of College and was the treasurer AU, signing all checks. In 1944, Rockefeller'sWhite"overseer" quietlyremovedDu Bois fromAU. With the power of the pen, Spelman's President Read did not includeDu Bois on the AU facultypayrolllist for the fall of 1944. The treatment Du Bois can be summedup in the wordsof Fanon of (1952/1967): "The Negro is a slave who has been allowed to assume the attitudeof the master.The white man is a masterwho has allowed his slaves to eat at his table" (p. 219). Du Bois was forced to find somewhereelse to eat. In 1945, Du Bois attendedthe 5th PanAfricanCongressin Manchester,England.Duringthis time period,Fanonwas 20 years old and had just finished serving in the French military.Fanon was awardedthe Croix de Guerrefor outstanding couragein actionfor in WorldWarII (Ehlen, 2000). Like many Black soldiers fighting fighting on behalf of their formeroppressor,however,Fanonhad some serious mentalconflict to resolve. He had not come into his Black/African consciousness until he was fully exposed to the

Moore / A FANONIAN PERSPECTIVE 755

movement.The negritudemovementwas the Frenchvernegritude sion of the Black Consciousnessmovementin the United States. In 1947, Fanon arrivedas a studentin France on his quest to become a medical doctor.Duringthis time, he became acquainted with his Blackness.Like so manyyoung people in the Africandiaspora, their experience with the New Worldcan be life-changing when they come into adulthoodand are confrontedwith racism (i.e., White supremacy).As a child, they may have been mentally shelteredfrom racism, but the dynamics become more complex and intricatewith age. The earlierteachings of Aime Cesaire,his personalencounterwith racismin the military,and the influences of negritude poets steeredFanontowardBlack consciousnessanda repudiationof assimilation into White society (Bulhan, 1985). Duringthisperiodof intensereading,it is likely thathe came across literature producedby Du Bois. negritudehelped him to see thatthe trunkmay Metaphorically, be paintedwhite, butthe roots will remainblack.As Fanonexperienced in both the Frenchmilitaryand the Frencheducationalsystem, the encounterwith the oppressorin his own land (i.e., France) led to a rude awakeningthat was not previously recognized. In BlackSkin,White Masks,Fanon(1952/1967) wrote,"Subjectively, the Antilleanconductshimself like a white man.But intellectually, he is a Negro. Thathe will learnonce he goes to Europe"(p. 148). Fanonwas discussingdouble consciousnessfor the Black inhabitants of the French colony known as Martinique.It is uncertain, however,if Fanonwas familiarwith Du Bois's double consciousness as expressed in The Souls of Black Folk. Fanon saw double consciousness materializingbefore his eyes, because he saw that fromthe Whiteworld negritudepresentedneithera total departure actionfor oppressed it denouncednor a programof transformative conditions. Fanon's exploration into negritude did not last long, and he fromhis formermentor,Cesaire,to engagein a moredecideparted In sive swing towardradicalization. 1958, when Cesairesupported the campaign for integrationof his homeland Martiniquewith and France,Fanon'sfocus was on liberation independence (Bulhan, 1985). Ghanahad become the first African countryto gain inde-

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pendencefrom colonial rule in 1957 (Nkrumah,1963), andFanon in participated the first All AfricanPeople's Conferencein Accra, in 1958. Duringthe same year,Du Bois traveledabroadto Ghana, China,France,England,Sweden, Germany,Russia, and Czechoslovakia (West, 1996). Du Bois learned much about the experiences of oppressedpeople throughoutthe world. He grew further and adversariesin the and furtherapartfrom his contemporaries UnitedStates.He could no longertoleratethe "talented10th"orthe middle-class society that produced them. For Fanon, it was the middle class thatcreateda stenchin society. It is the same middleclass mentalitythatcreatedhell for Du Bois in the NAACPas well as the AU. Fanon (1952/1967) so poignantlystatedin Black Skin, WhiteMasks, WhatI Intellectual alienation a product middle-class is of society. in call middle-class societyis anysocietythatbecomesrigidified all all forms,forbidding evolution, gains,all progpredetermined I a ress,all discovery. callmiddle-class closedsocietyin whichlife hasno taste,in whichtheairis tainted, whichideasandmenare in And that this corrupt. I think a manwhotakesa stand against death is in a sensea revolutionary, 224-225) (pp. As a revolutionary, Fanonresignedfromhis positionas a psychiatristfor the Frenchgovernmentandjoined the underground indemovement to free Algeria from French colonial rule. pendence Fanonwas well knownandrespectedby manyotherrevolutionary figures, and he was invited by the Ghanian president, Kwame to in Nkrumah, participate the secondAll AfricanPeople's Conference in Accra, Ghana,in 1960. Fanon was to become the permanent Ambassadorto Ghanafor the ProvisionalAlgerian Government(Ehlen,2000). In 1961, Nkrumah invitedDu Bois to Ghanato work on the EncyclopediaAfricana,a projectDu Bois probegin posed in 1909 (West, 1996). As a result of their involvementin Ghanian politics, FanonandDu Bois were on a collision coursefor the "meetingof theirminds,"butFanondied in the UnitedStatesin the 1961, the sameyearDu Bois departed United Statesfor Ghana. One soul came to America(Fanonin December)and one soul left

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America (Du Bois in October).After 2 years of working on the Du citizen,andhe eventually encyclopedia, Bois becamea Ghanian died in 1963 at the age of 95. In sum, it is a sad state of affairswhen intellectualsof African descent cannot fully express themselves. Du Bois and Fanonvaliantlyfoughtagainstthis mentalconflict, andtheytriedto providea vision for a new world.It is difficultto determinewhen andif they met and what influence Du Bois had on Fanon.However,they are intellectuallyconnectedin their separateliteraryworks.

A CONTEMPORARY ANALYSIS OF DOUBLE CONSCIOUSNESS

Historically,people of African descent living in Americahave been acculturatedto believe in a Eurocentricversion of world leads one to believe events. The common threadof Eurocentrism thatAfricanswere savageswho had to be enslavedto be civilized. The horrors chattelslaveryarenormallyglossed over as if it was of a time in historythatdid not meantoo much.A correctview of hisdestroyedmanyold andwell-functiontoryrevealsthatEuropeans ing societies, usuallyforpoliticalandeconomicgain.Whenhistory is read correctly,double consciousness is not needed. A proper view of history that puts the reader at the center and not the periphery can help to develop a single-minded consciousness. The goal of a single-minded consciousness would be to obtain mentalliberation. It should neverbe forgottenthatAfricanAmericansare former slaves who are still living in the presence of their formeroppressors. Because freedomfrom chattelslaverywas not fought for but grantedin the form of the EmancipationProclamation,the Africans who were stolen and broughtto America have never known trueindependence.Accordingto Fanon(1952/1967), "TheNegro knows nothingof the cost of freedom,for he has not fought for it. Fromtime to time he has fought for Libertyand Justice,but these were always white liberty and white justice" (p. 221). Fanon

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believed thatthe AmericanNegro was in a precarious position and there were reasons that Fanon never had an interest to visit the United States. Fromhis evaluation,
In the UnitedStates,the Negro battlesandis battled.Therearelaws Thereare underthe Constitution. that,little by little, areinvalidated otherlaws thatforbidcertainforms of discrimination. And we can be sure nothingis given free. (p. 221)

JohnHenrikClarke(1991) has oftenremindedus that"history is a clock thatpeople use to tell theirtime of day.It is a compassthat people use to locate themselves on the map of humangeography" (p. 25). As it standstoday,it appearsas thoughthe AfricanAmerican community has lost the compass, the map, and all sense of geography.Many AfricanAmericansare currentlyguided by fads andfashionsandwhateverthe mediasee fit for themto follow. How tragicit is thateducationis no longeras valuedas it was in the past. Generationshave lost their way because the previous generation did not properlypreparethe next generationfor the future. A commonmistakethathas been madeby manyBlack families is the refusalto teachthe vivid storyof how we were enslaved.One canunderstand desireto sheltera childfromhorror, it is negthe but to avoid teaching what it meant to strugglefor freedom. A ligent generationof parentsdid not want their childrento suffer as they did so they did not remindthem of the past. The youth today have veryfew guides fromthe pastbecauseparentswere ashamedto discuss the enslavementprocess thatdestroyedtheirmind,theircommunity,and theirculture.Thereis no denying how significantthe effect of slaverywas to ourpresentstate,butdoubleconsciousness will makeyou forgetthe past.Vacillating betweenbeing a Negro or an Americanhas fractured psyches of numerousgenerationsof the stolen Africans.Ratherthanbeing who they were when they were broughthere, the effects of White supremacyforced double consciousness to the forefrontas a coping mechanism. It is time to reevaluate this thought process and perhaps develop a singlemindedconsciousness.

Moore / A FANONIAN PERSPECTIVE 759

A doubleconsciousnesscan delude a personto believe they can mentally fixate themselves into someone else's reality.A singleminded consciousness, on the other hand, will help to lessen the delusionandallow the individualto look at themselvesin a healthy manner. The essentialquest in a single-mindedconsciousness shouldbe power (Wilson, 1998). Power should translateinto the ability to define your own reality,and it has been a struggleto obtainpower becausepowerfulpeople neverteachpowerlesspeople how to take their power away from them (Clarke, 1991). Educationis where this canbegin,butit mustfirstbe valued.Du Bois andFanonvalued to educationandtheirlives' workis a testament this fact.In this artithe lives and personalhistories of these two individualswere cle, how readingaboutthe past can providedirecused to demonstrate tion for the future.Therelies the essential problemwith the value on educationin the AfricanAmericancommunity an educational process that encouragesreading.In reading,you strengthenyour of vocabularyandyour understanding how the world operatesand where you need to go to betteryour life. Therearemanyreasonsthateducationis not as valuedas it was in the past,butthis mustchangefor theplightof AfricanAmericans to change. Forboth AfricanAmericanyouth andtheirparents,the lack of interestin highereducationmay be due to both mentaland culturalconflict. Mental conflict can psychologically detach the Africanfromhis or herheritageandculturalconflict can cause one to adoptthe cultureof the dominantsociety.Eitherformof conflict will cause one to strayfromwho they areto follow whateversomeone else thinks.It is the view of this authorthatdouble consciousness in a White-dominated society has caused us to lose the map and compass to know where the AfricanAmericancommunityis going. In conjunctionwith an earliercommentabouta White overseer who terminatedDu Bois 's job at AU, it is interestingto note that HBCUsin the Atlanta this one overseerwas linkedto threeseparate but not Morris Brown College (MBC). MBC University Center, a of keptthe tradition maintaining single consciousness.MBC was

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founded,funded,and supported the AfricanMethodistEpiscoby Church,and they have refused to relinquishpower to White pal interests. Sadly, MBC faced its most challenging year in 2003 when it lost accreditation April by the SouthernAssociation of in Colleges andSchools for majorproblemswith financialaid, record keeping, institutionaleffectiveness, and alleged mismanagement (Reed,2003). A financialcall was sentout to the AfricanAmerican communityto help this proud,independentschool survive,butthe debt was too high- or was it? If the response to the cry to keep MBC financiallysolventwas an indicationof whatAfricanAmericans value, then we are in a troubling state of affairs that is spreadinglike a virus. In the same year thatMBC experiencedfinancialchallenges, a second HBCU in the Atlanta University Center suffered similar Now ClarkAtlantaUniversity experienceswith mismanagement. is on the verge of collapse (Jones, 2003). In the ensuing (CAU) years since ClarkCollege and AtlantaUniversitymergedin 1988, financialwoes deepened as funding sources dried up in the poor economy.The plight of MBC and CAU is mentionedhere to demonstratethat African Americanshave limited power to save their own institutions. Perhaps a single-minded consciousness could havehelpedfocus on the mission to find a place in the future.With the impendingfall of HBCUs overthe coming years,the chancefor educationto be a pathtowardfreedomwill be slowly slippingaway. The loss of academicinstitutionsis monumental,but there are otherproblemsthatexist. Forexample,the statisticshaveincreased for the rateof crime,imprisonment, school dropouts,single-parent homes, and unemployment. Furthermore,a lack of academic resourcesin schools, decreasedmoralstandards, erodedfamily and valueshaveleft theBlackcommunity a stateof crisis.Themiddlein class entrapment left manypeople with the questfor the wrong has values.In otherwords,the drivefor materialresourceshas lowered the interestin buildingstrongcommunities.The house andthe car havebecomemoreimportant thanthe childrenandtheirfuture.Tattoos, hairstyles, nail styling,piercedbody parts,andfashionshave led us astray.

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The next generationis doomed to repeat the cycle of despair unless thereis an educationalprogram reconstruct mindsof a to the who havelost theirway (Armah,1973). It will be 2,000 seapeople sons before we can ever reclaimthe glory of ourpast. If 2,000 seasons pass, however,it will probablyserve as the extinctiondatefor a people who lost their way. African Americanshave become a nation within a nation that values spending more than saving. It appearsas though the masses of African Americanshave money, butit is certainlynot wealth.Wealth,for example,would not allow HBCUs such as MBC and CAU to have financialconstraints.To slow the cycle of despair,the AfricanAmericancommunityneeds wealth with a culturalconsciousness and a philanthropic spirit.

CONCLUSION

To conclude, double consciousness may have some value, but the numeroussocial crises festering in many Black communities deserveradicalsolutions(Asante,2003). AlthoughAsanteandothers havebeen criticalof the conceptof doubleconsciousness,arguing thatthereis only one consciousnessbutdifferentformsof confusion, this articleuses examplesof the lives of Du Bois andFanon to give the readeran indication of what can be learnedfrom the past. A Fanonianperspectiveon double consciousness may provide the basis for findinga solutionto the manycrises facedby people of African descent despite the objections.These two intellecthat tualgiantsgave the worlda body of literature is still applicable today. Ratherthanstay andsee the valley of the drybones, Du Bois left the United States in 1961 with no intentionto return.Fanonnever wantedto come to the United States,buthe did not have muchof a choice because he needed advancedtreatmentfor his leukemia. Both scholars may have known much more than we can realize aboutthe challengesof survivingin America.If thereis hope, then it will begin with self-reflection.It is recommendedthatwe depart from a double consciousness and focus on a single-mindedcon-

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sciousness to rescue, to reconstruct,and to revitalizethe minds of those who have been miseducated.It is nevertoo late to learn,but we mustfirstdevelopthe capacityto value learning.To paraphrase Fanon,we must not just know the world but change it.

REFERENCES
Armah,A. (1973). Twothousandseasons. London:HeinemannEducationalBooks. Asante, M. K. (2003). Erasing racism: Thesurvivalof the Americannation. Amherst,NY: PrometheusBooks. Branch, T. (1988). Parting the waters: America in the King years, 1954-63. New York: Simon and Schuster. Bulhan,H. A. (1985). FrantzFanonand the psychology of oppression.New York:Plenum Press. NJ: Clarke,J. H. ( 199 X). Africanworldrevolution: Africansat the crossroads.Trenton, African WorldPress. Du Bois, W.E.B.( 1903). Thesouls of Black Fawcett. folk: Essays andsketches.New York: New York:The Crossroad Ehlen,P.(2000). FrantzFanon:A spiritualbiography. Publishing Company. Fanon,F. (1967). Blackskin,whitemasks.New York:GrovePress.(Originalworkpublished 1952) and disease of exploitation,imperiForbes,J. (1992). Columbus othercannibals:TheWetiko alism and terrorism.New York:Autonomedia. Atlanta AtlantaJournal-Constitution, 1. Jones,A. (2003,June20). Clark fightsforsurvival. p. Nkrumah,K. (1963). Africa must unite.London:PanafBooks. Reed, M. (2003). HBCUs lose accreditation appeals.UniversityFaculty Voice,7(9), 1. West,C. (1996). W.E.B.Du Bois: TheJamesianorganicintellectual.In M. K. Asante& A. S. Abarry(Eds.),Africanintellectualheritage:A book of sources (pp. 583-593). Philadelphia:TempleUniversityPress. Wilson,A. N. ( 1998). Blueprint Blackpower:A moral,political and economicimperative for for the 21st century.New York:AfrikanWorldInfoSystems.

T.OwensMoore is an associate professorin the Department Psychologyat Clark of Atlanta University.He obtained a B.S. in psychologyfrom Lincoln Universityin Pennsylvaniaand a M.S. and Ph.D. in psychologyfrom Howard University.He receivedsupport Du from an AndrewMellon-W.E.B. Bois Mini-grantthroughClark Atlanta University'sSouthernCenterfor Studies in Public Policy to conduct this research.He has a primaryresearchinterestin the historyand struggleof people of Africandescent, and he teachesAfrican-centered psychology.