The Hypocritical Society
摘要
This chapter explains that what makes the Black condition theoretically plausible, practicably possible and morally permissible (albeit in a perverse sense) is ‘the hypocritical society.’ By the hypocritical society, the chapter means a society that professes certain (moral) ideals in theory but does not live up to those ideals in practice. And the failure to live up to those ideals is intentional. To reiterate, by the hypocritical society, the chapter means a people who, in their relationship with another people or other peoples, pretend to uphold certain moral standards such as equality of persons, justice and fairness but actually uphold contrary standards. The hypocritical society should not be equated with a particular race. As the preceding chapter (Chap. 3 ) demonstrates, it is not only Whites but also Arabs and Blacks that have roles in the enslavement and colonization of Black people and in the Black condition. In view of the hypocritical society, this chapter explains that the Black condition is essentially made possible by a world of perverse morality which is based on othering. The chapter explains what othering is and what it does, and then explains the scope and contents of the othering of Blacks.