09 Jul Violence and Nonviolence in Global Context

In her essay “Under Western Eyes: Feminist Scholarship and Colonial Discourses,” Chandra Mohanty emphasizes the need to consider the specific context in which so-called ‘Third World women’ experience oppression rather than universalizing the experience of all women. In Chapter 4 of Black Skin, White Masks, however, Frantz Fanon warns against minimizing some racism as being less harmful than other racisms. He also underscores the idea that all of those who are part of a racist structure are culpable for the racism carried out within the structure. Fanon is not necessarily making an argument in conflict with Mohanty’s. Racism is experienced differently by different individuals in different contexts. He is, however, warning against minimizing the impact of an oppressive structure by comparing different contexts of racism and identifying one as being more or less harmful than another. We can view Fanon’s treatment of racism as an exploration of racism as structural violence.

Make an argument that engages with the idea of racism as structural violence. You can make use of Chapter 5 from Black Skin, White Masks and/or other readings from other lessons, but you must include at least one relevant direct quotation from Chaper 4 in Black Skin, White Masks by Frantz Fanon to support your post.