Transcendence of the inferiority complex in Fear of a Black PlanetFanon states in Black Skin, White Masks that his account of the psychological complex The Black Men's Experience addresses the circumstances of his particular historical period, as he says: "It is by no means mine to prepare for the world that comes after me" (Fanon xvii). At the same time, his analysis identifies white supremacist social structures that have been critiqued by subsequent black thinkers, in ways suited to modern racial dynamics. On the surface, Public Enemy offers strikingly Fanon-like comments on the myth of white purity on their album Fear of a Black Planet, asking rhetorically, “What is pure? Who is pure? / Is he European? I'm not sure” (Public Enemy, “Fear”). In the details of their lyrics, however, lies a challenge to Fanon's conceit that the internal conflicts of the black man's self, as opposed to external oppression, are the “primary” vehicle of racism to be opposed (Fanon xii) . Although Public Enemy calls for concrete action against the structures that subordinate Black people, in a way that is forceful but motivated by the goal of unity like Fanon, they identify the root of this subordination not in compliance, but in fear. This distinction has critical consequences for their political goals, which expand Fanon's goals. I argue that by de-emphasizing the inferiority complex in favor of calls for black women's liberation, redress of the past, and an end to racially motivated fear, Public Enemy contributes a more interpersonal aspect to Fanon's vision of the black experience , beyond Fanon's vision of the black experience. focus on self-perception. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay For an assessment of Public Enemy's contribution to the sociology of race above their competition with Fanon, its account of the psychological propagation of racism deserves elaboration. Fanon's central claim is that while economic justice constitutes a significant part of black liberation, this emancipation can only become complete through the dissolution of the black man's inner feeling of inferiority (xiv-xv). Blacks' economic obstacles appear in his work primarily as factors contributing to the inferiority complex, which he sees as the central problem (xiv). Furthermore, in Fanon's model, white society perpetuates this complex by imposing its own cultural standards on black men in a way that treats them as infantile. This is evident in his discussion of condescending speech attitudes, where he states, “A white man talking to a person of color is behaving exactly like an adult talking to a child” (14). It is this paternalistic treatment of blacks that fuels oppression, because from the perspective of these white authorities, their right to demand obedience derives from their status as “benefactors” and anyone who denies such obedience is “ungrateful,” a “disappointment '” like a spoiled child (18). With rare exceptions, such as the fear of black rapists, the white colonial vision of the black man is, according to Fanon, not so threatening but so inferior that it “denies him the slightest recognition” (87, 95). To the extent that this colonizer tells black men that they are “brute beasts,” his implication, based on the fact that he marks them as dangerous only in the preemptive sense of ensuring that intellectual black men are “guarded,” is that such beasts can be easily tamed, without violent repression (18, 78). AlthoughPublic Enemy fiercely criticizes the relegation of blacks to the status of inferiority, their critique responding to a racial dynamic in the late twentieth century that manifests white superiority in the form of demonization, rather than infantilization, of blackness. Early on in the record, lead singer Chuck D notes, “They say brothers cause trouble / Hate destroys them bubble / 'Cause we roar from our lower level,” meaning the derision of black men's rebellion as a threat violence is misleading, because they are trying to escape their subordination (Public Enemy, “Brothers”). In particular, through lyrics such as "I'm not the one who runs / But they put me on the run / Treat me like I have a gun", Chuck D addresses the irrationality of the oppressors' fear of blacks, whose lack of authority makes them makes them less worthy of fear than the society that “manages” white people (“Fear”). Furthermore, Public Enemy finds the fear they have aroused in the eyes of the white media particularly absurd, because the only weapons they claim to use against their oppressors are words, as indicated by the phrase: “When I get angry, I put it down.” a block” (“Welcome”). This frustration with seeing black men as dangerous constitutes a response to the racially perpetrated abuse of police authority, which affects Public Enemy as African Americans in a way that finds no parallel in Fanon. For example, addressing the murder of a black man, the lyrics “It was the fuzz that shot him / And not the blood or the cuzz,” condemns the shifting of responsibility for this murder from the police to other black men, motivated by a stereotype that associates black men with aggression (“Anti”). This is in stark contrast to Fanon's observation that authority figures such as "doctors, police officers, and foremen" are especially prone to infantilize black men, reflecting a shift in white civilizational attitudes that complicates any attempt to see the Contemporary race relations through the lens of Fanon. (Fanon 14). It is because Public Enemy experiences the repercussions of white society's fear of blackness, rather than condescension, that they reject Fanon's focus on liberating "the black man from himself," as well as his insistence on need for a “Psychoanalytic interpretation of the black problem” (xii-xiv). Through the lyrics of their record, Public Enemy reveal neither an experience of inadequacy under white civilization, nor a third-person analysis of this experience as seen in Fanon's work. Rather, in a song that Chuck D calls “a black correspondent's take on how we looked at 1989,” his experience is one of self-assurance amid personal racial struggles: “Never question who I am, God knows” (“Interview” Public Enemy, “Welcome”). While Fanon's model might frame this text, along with the statement that Public Enemy are "internationally known on the microphone," as cases of overcompensation masking an inferiority complex, it is no less plausible that their self-confidence is genuine (“Power”; Fanon 189). If Fanon's intent with his psychological analysis is to help black and white readers understand the consequences of others' failure to recognize black men, Public Enemy addresses a contemporary racial dynamic in which black men are recognized , but as a hostile force. Fanon 191). Chuck D sums up this progression: "They once didn't give a damn what I said / Now they listen and want my head" (Public Enemy, "Anti"). That is, the recognition granted by white authorities to black men is incomplete, as such authorities do not see thetheir full “human reality” and therefore treat them inhumanely (Fanon 192). At the same time, the black man in Public Enemy's narrative is not erased, and therefore does not suffer psychologically from total lack of recognition, but more often from direct violence. This recognition by black men in the days of Public Enemy is probably their motivation. for critiquing the erasure of black women, on a level that is missing from Fanon's work. Stating, “Forget about me, free my sister,” Chuck D acknowledges that while the struggles of black men are significant, he would prefer that the tireless attention paid to Public Enemy be redirected to black women whose oppression “never made the news ". ” (Public Enemy, “Revolutionary”). Their self-awareness of misogyny within the African American community is especially clear in the spoken sample: “Why [sic] every time you brothers get up there, you leave us sisters out in the cold?” ( “Pollywanacraka”). This intersectionality of Public Enemy's approach meets the standard that Fanon sets for himself by stating that "it is utopian to try to differentiate one type of inhuman behavior from another", even if it limits his search for psychological liberation particularly to black men (Fanon 67 ). Furthermore, Public Enemy's focus on sexism reflects a broader implication of their transcendence of the inferiority complex: when internalized racism is no longer the most pressing concern, as is evidently the case with Public Enemy in their historical context, an oppressed class has the power to resolve its interpersonal conflicts. This is why Chuck D points out that America “made us attack our woman in black,” repudiating the process by which. Patriarchy pits black men against women, thus hindering the unity needed to dismantle institutional racism (Public Enemy, “Revolutionary”). In addition to the consideration of gender, Public Enemy's rejection of the inferiority complex reveals a heightened recognition of the past with respect to Fanon. On the one hand, Fanon distinguishes the “intellectual alienation” faced by Black Frenchmen, on which his analysis is centered, from the direct experience of “exploitation, poverty, and hunger” that motivates the resistance of other Black individuals (Fanon 199). Thus, the latter would have reason to directly fight external racist structures rather than resolve self-hatred, and thus Public Enemy's approach does not contradict Fanon's, but rather adapts his principles against forced racial assimilation white. Nonetheless, Public Enemy challenges Fanon's assumption that “the past can in no way be my guide in the present state of affairs” and that disalienation requires a rejection of the past (201). While the reasons for this perspective are not explicit, examples from the beginning of the record – in particular, “The race that controls the past controls the living present, and therefore the future” – suggest that Public Enemy considers equality attainable only through efforts to correct the lingering material effects of past racial injustices (Public Enemy, “Contract”). Therefore, not only do they consider economic justice crucial in the broad sense implied in overcoming the inferiority complex, but also specifically this weight assigned to the past informs their call for reparations for slavery, as seen in lyrics such as “we are waiting for the great revenge ” (“Who”). Chuck D points out that this last song is an indictment of America's tendency to "avoid the question of historical involvement", thus standing in direct opposition to Fanon's claim that he has "neither the right nor the duty to ask.