Letter to Fanon #1

Dear Frantz:

I stumbled across a letter today. I thought of you when I read it.

It was in the newsletter to an organization known as the Southern Poverty Law Center. The organization dedicates itself to battling hate and bigotry and seeking justice for the vulnerable members of society. The letter is quite striking and speaks for itself:

I first wondered if the writer was someone — perhaps, someone full of race hate — who hoped Blacks did, in fact, resort to violence. A race war would commence and they would get their wish. Many would die. Hate would thrive.

Then, I pondered the letter itself and noticed that while the letter is a letter to SPLC, it is written to black people. That, I had to admit, was odd, but had some sincerity to it.

Yet, I also was taken back to your book, ‘The Wretched of the Earth,’ and your own musings on violence, for the colonized (Blacks being the members of the colony). Violence, for the colonized, according to those writings is the “ultimate praxis.” “The colonized man liberates himself in and through violence.”

The level of hate and hate groups is purported to be way up these days. Many blame this on the current political leadership. Personally, it seems no different. I assume there is hatred out there — a deeply engrained race hate that is perpetuated by the nation’s institutions and while wounded by the opposition, it continues to live and breathe very vibrantly in this America.