The Antillean’s self-worth is entirely contingent on comparison with others

Evidence

The Negro is comparison. There is the first truth. He is comparison: that is, he is constantly preoccupied with self-evaluation and with the ego-ideal. Whenever he comes into contact with someone else, the question of value, of merit, arises. The Antilleans have no inherent values of their own, they are always contingent on the presence of The Other. The question is always whether he is less intelligent than I, blacker than I, less respectable than I. — Frantz Fanon, Constance Farrington, Black skin, white masks, 753

Categorization

• DEFINE: Core definition of the ‘Negro as comparison’ — the ego constantly evaluated against The Other.
• XREF: Connects to the book’s central ‘Black Skin, White Masks’ thesis about the mask worn before the white gaze. — connects to: The encounter with the real white man triggers the Antillean’s recognition of betrayal; Antillean identity is contingent entirely on the white Other; The Antillean’s sense of self is entirely contingent on the Other’s judgment. (+9 more)

Related

• The Antillean’s sense of self is entirely contingent on the Other’s judgment. (similarity 0.95)
• Antillean self-worth depends entirely on comparison with others (similarity 0.94)
• Antillean identity is contingent entirely on the white Other (similarity 0.89)
• Antilleans perceive their fellows through a white frame of reference (similarity 0.85)
• The encounter with the real white man triggers the Antillean’s recognition of betrayal (similarity 0.84)
• In the Antilles, perception of people always occurs in white terms (similarity 0.83)
• Antilleans claim superiority over Africans by being closer to the white man. (similarity 0.82)
• Antillean comparison is governed by a social rather than a personal fiction. (similarity 0.81)
• Antilleans dominate others by dismissing them as fools rather than facing them (similarity 0.81)
• The Martinican compares with peers through the white man as standard (similarity 0.81)
• Antillean morality requires erasing blackness from consciousness (similarity 0.80)
• The Antillean’s unconscious is populated entirely by white archetypes (similarity 0.80)
• Fanon’s claims are scoped to Antillean blacks, not Africans (similarity 0.80)
• The anguished Negro must prove his whiteness to himself and others (similarity 0.80)
• The black Antillean enslaves himself after being enslaved by the white man (similarity 0.79)

Broader Connections

• Others serve the ego only as way stations toward the self #expands (0.75) — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 537
• Human worth depends on recognition by another person #expands (0.70)
• Antilleans dominate others by dismissing them as fools rather than facing them #qualifies (0.60) — Frantz Fanon, Constance Farrington, Black skin, white masks, 755
• Education and refinement could qualify blackness in Antillean social judgment #qualifies (0.50) — Frantz Fanon, Constance Farrington, Black skin, white masks, 995