Pied noir beliefs about lazy Algerian workers masked malnutrition’s effects

Evidence

Malnutrition induces lethargy at work, which doubtless could to a large extent explain the commonly held pied noir notion that the Algerian worker was, by nature, indolent and idle. — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 185 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

If the pied noir attitude to the indigenous Algerian could be summed up in a word, it was, simply, indifference. He was regarded, says Pierre Nora, “as an anonymous figure of whom it sufficed to know that one provided his welfare, so that one had no need to be concerned about him”. In so far as he supplied the labour essential for exploiting the country, he was simply “a part of the patrimoine immobilier [real estate inheritance]”. At best he would be treated with paternalism, fairness and a kind of formal acceptance of his different religion and culture. But too often he was regarded with disdain, and from a vantage of superiority; which manifested itself in many different ways, and more insidiously among the poorer levels of whites where the frictional contact was closest. Bicot, melon, figuier, sale raton — there was a plethora of derogatory slang for an inferior race that sprang all to readily to the lips. Equally a host of preconceived inherited notions about the Algerian were accepted uncritically, without examining either their veracity or causation: he was incorrigibly idle and incompetent; he only understood force; he was an innate criminal, and an instinctive rapist. — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 161 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Pied noir settlers related to Algerians through indifference and paternalism; Malnutrition-driven lethargy was misread as racial indolence by settlers — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 185; Pied noir racism toward Algerians was rooted in indifference rather than overt hatred — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 161 (+3 more)

Related

• Pied noir settlers related to Algerians through indifference and paternalism (similarity 0.89)
• Malnutrition-driven lethargy was misread as racial indolence by settlers (similarity 0.88)
• Pied noir racism toward Algerians was rooted in indifference rather than overt hatred (similarity 0.88)
• Even higher wartime death rates of Indos were blamed on their weaker moral fibre (similarity 0.82)
• Pied noir soldiers balked at shooting Muslim demonstrators to save Algérie française (similarity 0.79)
• Pied noir survival in Algeria was untenable even without O.A.S. violence (similarity 0.78)

Broader Connections

• Malnutrition-driven lethargy was misread as racial indolence by settlers #corroborates (0.95) — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 185
• Pied noir settlers related to Algerians through indifference and paternalism #expands (0.70)
• Pied noir racism toward Algerians was rooted in indifference rather than overt hatred #corroborates (0.50) — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 161
• Colonial prejudices sexualized and dehumanized the Algerian Muslim #expands (0.50)
• People from impoverished conditions do not always recognize their poverty. #complicates (0.40) — Crews, Harry, A childhood the biography of a place, 21