African American Duality

There was a relationship with the reality of the black African whose suffering and exploitation was directly made real and exacerbated by the white French aristocrat, and the intimate, controlled and voiceless rendition of that slave in which the white owner used to consume in the physical (erotic visuals,), soothe in the psychological (depicting him as docile and benevolent), and exploit in the spiritual (used to reinforce a white colonizer identity). A similar play on duality is found in a relationship of psychological and physical distance. The white French aristocrat's decision to embrace Blackamoors, in France, in the apex of the colonial triangle, was far from the brutal reality of chattel slavery in the Caribbean colonies and Africa. …show more content…
However, fortunately, the truth does not cease to be the truth based on whether one acknowledges it or not. Europe is a result of an intermingling of cultures, peoples, and ideas past and present. The danger of European denial of their intimate and violent relationship with Africa only fuels division and distancing. A refusal to embrace European interdependence of cultures and ideas is a false view of history that only fuels the fires of nationalistic, racist, and xenophobic sentiments (Mammone). One has to look no further than to the descendants of colonization who walk the streets of England, Germany and France as living breathing reminders of Europe’s violent and traditional embrace of non-Western civilizations ("Afro-French" ). The Blackamoors are the perfection representation of an intimate tension, a push and pull, with French exploitation and embrace. Blackamoors are a vital part of history and should be acknowledged and reconciled under an educated and convicting gaze of Colonial France’s imperial