about Albert Memmi and The Colonizer & the Colonized
Talking to a friend today reminded me of The Colonizer and the Colonized . I read it in college and it has stayed with me for more than 30 years. The key thought I took away is that the oppressed often in turn become oppressors once they gain power.
Here's a quote detailing that conclusion from Answers.com:
Citing colonization as a variant of fascism, Memmi especially reacts to the decolonization of North Africa in 1956, but states that the dynamics are similar in any colonial system. In his view, although minority populations are exploited under colonial governments, once they gain their freedom and gain political and economic power they in turn become the exploiters.
My friend is dealing with a former employer, trying to get a severance payment after being summarily dismissed without notice or cause. The employer is a small company owned by a Jewish family. My friend is an African-American woman. Her claim is that she would not have been treated this way had she been a white man. In my view, her case is pretty clearly just, since another former employee of this firm - a white man - received ample time and payment when he was turned down for partner. However, the company owners refuse to pay her anything. And she will not give up because she believes that part of their thinking is "how dare this little black girl demand anything from us?" This clash has dragged on for almost seven months.
I was reminded of Memmi because of the cast of characters: male Jewish owners who have economic power and an African-American woman who does not. Both parties come from groups that historically have been horribly oppressed and subject to genocidal treatment by powerful white people, Christians and Muslims. It appears to me that there is a classic Memmi-like relationship here, with representatives of a (relatively) newly powerful oppressed group exerting its power over another oppressed group. Perhaps it is the typical male/female gender oppression is mostly at play here, yet I believe there definitely is an ethno/racial dynamic at play.
And the WASP male is not touched by any of it.
Here's a quote detailing that conclusion from Answers.com:
Citing colonization as a variant of fascism, Memmi especially reacts to the decolonization of North Africa in 1956, but states that the dynamics are similar in any colonial system. In his view, although minority populations are exploited under colonial governments, once they gain their freedom and gain political and economic power they in turn become the exploiters.
My friend is dealing with a former employer, trying to get a severance payment after being summarily dismissed without notice or cause. The employer is a small company owned by a Jewish family. My friend is an African-American woman. Her claim is that she would not have been treated this way had she been a white man. In my view, her case is pretty clearly just, since another former employee of this firm - a white man - received ample time and payment when he was turned down for partner. However, the company owners refuse to pay her anything. And she will not give up because she believes that part of their thinking is "how dare this little black girl demand anything from us?" This clash has dragged on for almost seven months.
I was reminded of Memmi because of the cast of characters: male Jewish owners who have economic power and an African-American woman who does not. Both parties come from groups that historically have been horribly oppressed and subject to genocidal treatment by powerful white people, Christians and Muslims. It appears to me that there is a classic Memmi-like relationship here, with representatives of a (relatively) newly powerful oppressed group exerting its power over another oppressed group. Perhaps it is the typical male/female gender oppression is mostly at play here, yet I believe there definitely is an ethno/racial dynamic at play.
And the WASP male is not touched by any of it.
posted by julieannerickson at 12:12 PM
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