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Negrophobia (also termed anti-Blackness) is characterized by a fear, hatred or extreme aversion to
Black people Black is a racialized classification of people, usually a political and skin color-based category for specific populations with a mid to dark brown complexion. Not all people considered "black" have dark skin; in certain countries, often ...
and Black culture worldwide. Caused amongst other factors by
racism Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism ...
and traumatic events and circumstances, symptoms of this
phobia A phobia is an anxiety disorder defined by a persistent and excessive fear of an object or situation. Phobias typically result in a rapid onset of fear and are usually present for more than six months. Those affected go to great lengths to avo ...
include but are not limited to the attribution of negative characteristics to Black people, the fear or the strong dislike of Black men and the
objectification In social philosophy, objectification is the act of treating a person, as an object or a thing. It is part of dehumanization, the act of disavowing the humanity of others. Sexual objectification, the act of treating a person as a mere object of se ...
of Black women.


Definitions


Lexicology

The
hybrid word A hybrid word or hybridism is a word that etymologically derives from at least two languages. Common hybrids The most common form of hybrid word in English combines Latin and Greek parts. Since many prefixes and suffixes in English are of ...
''negrophobia'' consists of two components: ''negro'' and ''
phobia A phobia is an anxiety disorder defined by a persistent and excessive fear of an object or situation. Phobias typically result in a rapid onset of fear and are usually present for more than six months. Those affected go to great lengths to avo ...
''. As such, it literally derives from "Fear of black": * From Spanish and
Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Por ...
: ''
negro In the English language, ''negro'' is a term historically used to denote persons considered to be of Black African heritage. The word ''negro'' means the color black in both Spanish and in Portuguese, where English took it from. The term can be ...
'', "Black color" * From Greek: φόβος, phóbos, "
Fear Fear is an intensely unpleasant emotion in response to perceiving or recognizing a danger or threat. Fear causes physiological changes that may produce behavioral reactions such as mounting an aggressive response or fleeing the threat. Fear ...
of" Other terms with similar meanings include ''antiblackness'' and ''blackophobia''. However, some publishers have discouraged designating individuals as ''blackophobes'' or ''negrophobes'' and rather highlight the general epithet that is usually applied to racists. Although ''melanophobia'' is sometimes confused with ''negrophobia'', the former term is more commonly applied to situations involving inanimate objects that are very dark or black. ''Negrophobia'' is also distinct from '' Afrophobia'', which is a perceived fear of the various cultures and peoples of
Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
and the
African diaspora The African diaspora is the worldwide collection of communities descended from native Africans or people from Africa, predominantly in the Americas. The term most commonly refers to the descendants of the West and Central Africans who were ...
irrespective of their racial origin. Unlike ''negrophobia'', ''Afrophobia'' is thus essentially a cultural rather than a racial phenomenon.


Debates over definitions

There are differences in the senses that are applied to ''negrophobes'' or the noun ''Negrophobia''. Some senses use the term to describe a
discriminatory Discrimination is the act of making unjustified distinctions between people based on the groups, classes, or other categories to which they belong or are perceived to belong. People may be discriminated on the basis of race, gender, age, rel ...
sentiment towards people who may identify with the Black race. Accordingly, the latter sense adopts the notion that a person with ''Negrophobia'' believes that his or her race is superior to the Black race through
xenophobia Xenophobia () is the fear or dislike of anything which is perceived as being foreign or strange. It is an expression of perceived conflict between an in-group and out-group and may manifest in suspicion by the one of the other's activities, a ...
. However, an alternative definition stays true to the original clinical meaning of the suffix phobia. Thereby, ''Negrophobia'' would be associated not with
racism Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism ...
, but rather with those who critically fear the Black race. In July 2010, a segment on ''Negrophobia'' was featured on '' The Rachel Maddow Show'' on
MSNBC MSNBC (originally the Microsoft National Broadcasting Company) is an American news-based pay television cable channel. It is owned by NBCUniversala subsidiary of Comcast. Headquartered in New York City, it provides news coverage and politic ...
.


Overview


Historical context

In Europe, ''Negrophobia'' finds its roots in the 17th century due to its extensive historical
colonisation Colonization, or colonisation, constitutes large-scale population movements wherein migrants maintain strong links with their, or their ancestors', former country – by such links, gain advantage over other inhabitants of the territory. When ...
and
slavery Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...
. According to certain sources, the term ''Negrophobia'' would have been forged on the model of the word ''Nigrophilism'', itself first appearing in 1802 in Baudry des Lozières’s ''Les égarements du nigrophilisme''. It further reappeared in January 1927 in Lamine Senghor’s ''La voix des nègres'', a monthly anti-colonialist newspaper. The term was later popularised by
Frantz Fanon Frantz Omar Fanon (, ; ; 20 July 1925 – 6 December 1961), also known as Ibrahim Frantz Fanon, was a French West Indian psychiatrist, and political philosopher from the French colony of Martinique (today a French department). His works have ...
, especially in his works ''Peaux noires masques blancs'' and ''Les Damnés de la Terre''. More recently in 2005, an anti-negrophobia brigade (BAN) was created in
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
to protest against increasing targeted acts and occurrences of
police violence Police brutality is the excessive and unwarranted use of force by law enforcement against an individual or a group. It is an extreme form of police misconduct and is a civil rights violation. Police brutality includes, but is not limited to, ...
. The latter protest movements notably underwent severe police violence in the Jardin du Luxembourg in Paris during the 2011 and 2013 abolition of slavery commemorations.


''Negrophobia'' and identity

More specifically on Fanon's analysis of ''Negrophobia'', the psychiatrist was the first to introduce the concept of Black ''Negrophobia'', pointing to the hatred of Black people and Black culture by Black people themselves. Indeed, he asserts that ''Negrophobia'' is a form of "trauma for white people of the Negro". Equivalent to internalised racism caused by the trauma of living in a culture defining Black people as inherently evil, Fanon emphasises the slight existing cultural intricacies caused by the vast diversity of Black people and cultures, as well as the nature of their colonisation by White Europeans. The symptoms of such Black ''Negrophobia'' include a rejection of their native or ethnic language in favour of
European languages Most languages of Europe belong to the Indo-European language family. Out of a total European population of 744 million as of 2018, some 94% are native speakers of an Indo-European language. Within Indo-European, the three largest phyla are Ro ...
, a marked preference for European cultures over Black cultures, and a tendency to surround themselves with lighter skinned people rather than darker skinned ones. Similarly, the pattern further includes attributing negative characteristics to Black people, culture, and things.
Toni Morrison Chloe Anthony Wofford Morrison (born Chloe Ardelia Wofford; February 18, 1931 – August 5, 2019), known as Toni Morrison, was an American novelist. Her first novel, ''The Bluest Eye'', was published in 1970. The critically acclaimed '' So ...
's novel ''
The Bluest Eye ''The Bluest Eye,'' published in 1970, is the first novel written by Toni Morrison. The novel takes place in Lorain, Ohio (Morrison's hometown), and tells the story of a young African-American girl named Pecola who grew up following the Great De ...
'' (1970) stands as an illustrative work on the destroying effects of ''Negrophobia'' among the
Black community Black is a racialized classification of people, usually a political and skin color-based category for specific populations with a mid to dark brown complexion. Not all people considered "black" have dark skin; in certain countries, often in ...
on themselves. Indeed, the main character, Pecola Breedlove, through her non-reconciliation with her Black identity, her Black societal indifference and her craving for symbolic blue eyes, presents all the signs of an internalised ''Negrophobia''. She develops an anti-Black
neurosis Neurosis is a class of functional mental disorders involving chronic distress, but neither delusions nor hallucinations. The term is no longer used by the professional psychiatric community in the United States, having been eliminated from t ...
due to her feeling of non-existence both within the White and her own community. While the latter theoretical framework is academically debated, Fanon insists on the nature of ''Negrophobia'' as a socio-diagnosis, thus characterising not individuals but rather entire societies and their patterns. Fanon thereby implies that ''Negrophobia'' is a cross-disciplinary area of research, justifying that its analysis and understanding may not be confined to the
psychological Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwee ...
field.


''Negrophobia'' and law

The notion of involuntary ''Negrophobia'' is highly debated in the academic and
legal Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vari ...
arenas, specifically opposing non instrumentalists and instrumentalists. The formers are favourable to the involuntary nature of a
post-traumatic stress disorder Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental and behavioral disorder that can develop because of exposure to a traumatic event, such as sexual assault, warfare, traffic collisions, child abuse, domestic violence, or other threats on ...
, thereby defending the uncontrollable nature of a defendant’s actions. This approach focusses on the personal culpability of the individual defendant, thus disregarding any possible social implications. On the other hand, instrumentalists do consider such broader implications, viewing the law as an object of social change and claiming to promote the general
welfare Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specifical ...
by refusing to recognise legal claims damaging the integrity of the legal. This view criticises non instrumentalists for equating ''Negrophobia'' with
insanity Insanity, madness, lunacy, and craziness are behaviors performed by certain abnormal mental or behavioral patterns. Insanity can be manifest as violations of societal norms, including a person or persons becoming a danger to themselves or t ...
by allowing a person’s racial fear to legally justify and even excuse violent behaviour. Following widespread claims that sane but guilty defendants may exploit the insanity defence to escape long
prison sentence In law, a sentence is the punishment for a crime ordered by a trial court after conviction in a criminal procedure, normally at the conclusion of a trial. A sentence may consist of imprisonment, a fine, or other sanctions. Sentences for mu ...
s, a similar skepticism with respect to defences invoking ''Negrophobia'' would result in significant distrust in the legal and
criminal justice system Criminal justice is the delivery of justice to those who have been accused of committing crimes. The criminal justice system is a series of government agencies and institutions. Goals include the rehabilitation of offenders, preventing oth ...
, thereby indirectly destroying the legitimacy of such courts.


Anti-Blackness in Education and Organization Studies.

In response to
Black Lives Matter Black Lives Matter (abbreviated BLM) is a decentralized political and social movement that seeks to highlight racism, discrimination, and racial inequality experienced by black people. Its primary concerns are incidents of police brut ...
organizing contemporary scholars of Education, Human Resource Development, and Critical Management Studies have begun focusing on anti-Blackness in schools and places of business. These efforts build on established critical race discourses in their respective field and incorporate concepts from Afropessimism.


See also

*
Negrophilia The word ''negrophilia'' is derived from the French ''négrophilie'' that means ''love of the negro''. It was a term that avant-garde artists used amongst themselves to describe their fetishization of Black culture. Its origins were concurrent w ...
* Afrophobia * Missing white woman syndrome *
Ethnocentrism Ethnocentrism in social science and anthropology—as well as in colloquial English discourse—means to apply one's own culture or ethnicity as a frame of reference to judge other cultures, practices, behaviors, beliefs, and people, instead of ...
*
List of phobias The English suffixes -phobia, -phobic, -phobe (from Greek φόβος ''phobos'', "fear") occur in technical usage in psychiatry to construct words that describe irrational, abnormal, unwarranted, persistent, or disabling fear as a mental di ...
* Racial bias in criminal news * Racism against African Americans *
Stereotypes of African Americans Stereotypes of African Americans are misleading beliefs about the culture of people of African descent who reside in the United States, largely connected to the racism and discrimination which African Americans are subjected to. These beliefs ...
*
Xenophobia Xenophobia () is the fear or dislike of anything which is perceived as being foreign or strange. It is an expression of perceived conflict between an in-group and out-group and may manifest in suspicion by the one of the other's activities, a ...


References

{{Racism topics Anti-black racism in the United States Prejudice and discrimination by type Anti-black racism