The national bourgeoisie are those who are in charge of the economy after independence, when the colonists are no longer in power. What is the national bourgeoisie and why does Fanon think it is “useless”? Instead of lumping everything into a category based on race, ignoring national and ethnic differences, Fanon argues for a national culture that is about a people asserting their own nationhood, rather than race. But this means fighting a cultural battle on the colonist’s terms. The colonized intellectual, in reaction to the denigration of African culture by the Europeans, racializes culture in order to assert the legitimacy of culture across Africa. The racialization of culture means turning all of culture into matters of race. What, according to Fanon, is wrong with the “racialization” of culture? Economic equality is maintained through racial inequality. The infrastructure (economy) does not determine the superstructure (racial inequality): rather, they are one and the same. In colonialism, racial inequality creates economic inequality. Fanon says that is not true in colonialism. The infrastructure is supposed to determine the superstructure, which means that social inequalities are determined by economic realities. In Marxism, the infrastructure is the economy and the superstructure is the sphere of culture and society. What does Fanon mean when he says “the infrastructure is also a superstructure” in colonialism? But unfortunately, this leads the nation in an authoritarian or dictatorial direction, similar to how things were under colonialism. As a result, the national bourgeoisie, who are elites based in cities, turn to the popular leader in order to gain the consent of the rural masses. His charisma and stories of war impress the rural masses. The popular leader is a charismatic figure, usually a veteran of the anticolonial violence. What is the role of the “popular leader” after independence? Through violence, they develop a new post-colonial consciousness.

But when the colonized begin to use violence against the colonial powers, they unlearn their submissiveness. Through violence, it teaches the colonized that they are powerless. Violence is the original means by which the colonist subjugates the colonized. What is the role of violence in colonialism? The revolutionary opponent of colonialism flips this opposition: to him, the colonized is virtuous, and the colonist is evil and must be overthrown. To the colonist, the colonized are black and evil whereas the colonist is white and good. In the colonial context, it divides the world into just two classes of people: the colonized and the colonist. Describe what Manichaeism means in a colonial context.

Frantz fanon's wretched of the earth