Captive Egyptians reframed white racial identity as proof of their superiority

Evidence

Fawzï turned to the prisoner on his other side, to ask him if anyone could possibly believe such lies, but this man refused to respond. Fawzï then noticed two other men in the corner laughing, who told him this second man also considered himself to be Jesus Christ. … This anecdote testifies to the absurdity of Omdurman society, in Fawzï Pasha’s mind, and the unreality and insanity of the social structure that had been imposed by the Mahdïya. But it also underscores his position as a white, which the Sudanese characters help him to reaffirm, and therefore his position in a real, civilized, society. Thus, his text reorders the world into what is tolerable, for Fawzï, and transforms the alienation of fourteen years’ captivity into a medal of honor. — Eve M. Troutt Powell, A Different Shade of Colonialism_…, 635

Categorization

• SEED: A captured officer’s fourteen-year captivity turned into status legitimation via race is a strong lens for how colonial subjects inverted power after European dominance collapsed.
• DEFINE: Clarifies how Mahdist-era Egyptians used color categories as a psychological and social survival mechanism.