Western language defined the Black intelligentsia before they mastered it.

Evidence

The Negro of the Antilles will be proportionately whiter –that is, he will come closer to being a real human being –in direct ratio to his mastery of the French language. … A man who has a language consequently possesses the world expressed and implied by that language. What we are getting at becomes plain: Mastery of language affords remarkable power. — Frantz Fanon, Constance Farrington, Black skin, white masks, 75 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Language mastery determines how human a colonized black man is considered — Frantz Fanon, Constance Farrington, Black skin, white masks, 75; Western definitions of Africans served domination rather than understanding.; Colonial officials used language hierarchy to justify claims of Indigenous mental inferiority (+1 more)

Related

• Language mastery determines how human a colonized black man is considered (similarity 0.90)
• Mastery of the colonizer’s language confers honorary whiteness on the colonized (similarity 0.87)
• The colonial intelligentsia were themselves partly constituted by the languages of their rulers (similarity 0.85)
• The colonial seeks French refinement to prove he has measured up (similarity 0.84)
• For the Antillean Negro, mastery of French proportionally increases perceived whiteness and humanity. (similarity 0.82)
• Western definitions of Africans served domination rather than understanding. (similarity 0.81)
• Colonial intelligentsias are structurally compelled toward the colonizer’s language in public life (similarity 0.81)
• Mastering French makes the Antilles Negro whiter, earning honorary white status (similarity 0.80)
• Western language defined Black radicals before they could use it as a tool (similarity 0.80)
• “He talks like a white man” is Martinique’s highest praise for mastering French. (similarity 0.79)
• Language hierarchy alone does not create inferiority; colonization does (similarity 0.79)

Broader Connections

• Language mastery determines how human a colonized black man is considered #expands (0.70) — Frantz Fanon, Constance Farrington, Black skin, white masks, 75
• Colonial racial thinking dehumanized Africans as they assimilated colonial culture #expands (0.65)
• Colonial officials used language hierarchy to justify claims of Indigenous mental inferiority #exemplifies (0.55)
• Western definitions of Africans served domination rather than understanding. #complicates (0.40)