wretched-of-the-earth-frantz-fanon

126THE WRETCHED OF THE EARTHTHE TRIALS AND TRIBULATIONS OF NATIONAL CONSCIOUSNESS 127presence of a party member the people keep mum, behave likesheep, and pay tribute to the government and the leader. But inthe street, away from the village of an evening, in the cafe or onthe river, the people's bitter disappointment, their desperation, butalso their pent-up anger, can be clearly heard. Instead of lettingthe people express their grievances, instead of making thecirculation ofideas between people and the leadership its basicmission, the party erects a screen of prohibitions. The party leadersbehave like common sergeants major and constantly remindthe people of the necd to keep "silence in ranks." This party,which claimed to be the servant of the people, which claimed towork for the people's happiness, quickly dispatches the people backto their caves as soon as the colonial authorities hand over thecountry. The party will also commit many mistakes regardingnational unity. For example, the so-called national party operateson a tribal basis. It is a veritable ethnic group which has transformeditself into a party. This party which readily proclaims itselfnational, which claims to speak in the name of the people asa whole, secretly and sometimes openly sets up a genuine ethnicdictatorship. We are no longer witness to a bourgeois dictatorshipto a tribal one. The ministers, private secretarics, ambassadors,and prefects are chosen from the leader's ethnic group, sometimeseven directly from his family. These regimes based on the familyunit seem to repeat the age-old laws of endogamy and faced withstupidity, this imposture and this intellectual and spiritualpoverty, we are left with a feeling of shame rather than anger.These heads ofgovernment are the true traitors ofMrica, for theysell their continent to the worst of its enemies; stupidity. Thistribalization of power results, much as one would expect, in regionalistthinking and separatism. Decentralizing trends surfaceand triumph, the nation disintegrates and is dismembered.leader who once cried: "Mrican unity!" and thought of his ownfamily awakes to find himself saddled with five tribes whoalso want their own ambassadors and ministers; and as irrcsponsible,oblivious, and pathetic as ever he cries "treason."* * *We have many times indicated the very often detrimental roleof the leader. This is because in certain regions the party is organizedlike a gang whose toughest member takes over the leadership.The leader's ancestry and powers are readily mentioned,and in a knowing and slightly admiring tone it is quickly pointedout that he inspires awe in his close collaborators. In order toavoid these many pitfalls a persistent battle has to be waged toprevent the party from becoming a compliant instrument in thehands of a leader. Leader comes from the English verb "to lead,"meaning "to drive" in French. J5 The driver of people no longerexists today. People are no longer a herd and do not need to bedriven. If the leader drives me I want him to know that at thesame time I am driving him. The nation should not be anrun by a big boss. Hence the panic that grips government circlesevery time one of their leaders falls ill, bccause tlley are obsessedwith thc question of succession: What will happen to the countryif the leader dies? Thc influential circles, who in theirirresponsibility are more concerned with safeguarding theirtheir cocktail parties, their paid travel and their profitableracketeering, have abdicated in favor of a leader and occasionallydiscover the spiritual void at the heart of the nation.A country which really wants to answer to history, which wantsto develop its towns and the minds of its inhabitants, must possessa genuine party. The party is not an instrument in the handsof the government. Very much to the contrary, the party is aninstrument in thc hands of the people. It is the party which dccideson the policy cnacted by the government. The party is notand never should be merely a political bureau where allmembers of government and dignitaries of the regime feel free to15 Translator's Note: In the Fanon uses the English word leaderand compares it to the Frend1 conduire.