Fanon: On the colonized personality

In Fanon's chapter "Colonial War and Mental Disorders", he attacks the idea of Algerian criminality being a result of discrepancies in brain function and specific character traits of Africans. He expresses that colonization, in itself, is dehumanizing. Murders, thefts, and rapes were not a result of primitive brain function, but a direct result of the oppression of colonization. The colonizers believe that they are there to "tame" the "savages"; therefore, inflicting inferiority on the colonized. This systematic condescending view severely affects those subjected to it, in turn developing inferior personalities, fueled by anger and hostility and subsequently gives the colonizer more power and control. This invokes a type of rebellion. The hollow, cold shells of once compassionate humans are prone violence, deviance, and mental disorders. Fanon emphasizes that the colonization itself is the instigator of criminality and rejects the theories of experts claiming idleness of the frontal lobes and domination of the diencephalon. Fanon explains the only way to revolution and emancipation of the colonized personality is to be aware of the untruths planted within each colonized individual and that, total liberation involves every facet of the personality.

Fanon's explanation of criminality in Algeria is dead on! Oppression causes people to either become entirely submissive or extremely angry and/or violent. Both characteristics are not the ingredients for revolution. The submissive mind is subdued and refuses to revive and recognize, while the angry mind is clouded by rage and violent thoughts, also unable to recognize. Therefore, those possessing either of these polarized traits are incapable of a successful revolution because they only use one facet of their personality. This type of enslavement can cause mental illness, but only due to the treatment they have endured. To acknowledge the reports made by Porot and Carothers does the African people a terrible injustice, denying them the divine gift of human capacity. All people by nature, to an extent, are savage. Therefore, in an attempt to "tame" or "subdue" the beast, rebellion will naturally occur. However, most colonized people are not violent by nature, but it is the oppression and the forceful taking of their dignity, land, livelihood, and freedom that forces this behavior. The refusal to recognize the colonized drives them to be seen or heard in some way and unfortunately, many times, it is violence. Essentially, people are all products of their environments. So, for those living in a place full of sorrow, violence, and defeat; what can one expect from their behavior? The answer, nothing but and endless cycle perpetuated sorrow instigating violence, followed by self-defeat.