Skip to content

Arabs Quote by Albert Memmi

“Conquest occurred through violence, and over-expolitation and oppression necessitate continued violence, so the army is present. There would be no contradiction in that, if terror reigned everywhere in the world, but the colonizer enjoys, in the mother country, democratic rights that the…” quote by Albert Memmi
Download Open image
““Conquest occurred through violence, and over-expolitation and oppression necessitate continued violence, so the army is present. There would be no contradiction in that, if terror reigned everywhere in the world, but the colonizer enjoys, in the mother country, democratic rights that the colonialist system refuses to the colonized native. In fact, the colonialist system favors population growth to reduce the cost of labor, and it forbids assimilation of the natives, whose numerical superiority, if they had voting rights, would shatter the system. Colonialism denies human rights to human beings whom it has subdued by violence, and keeps them by force in a state of misery and ignorance that Marx would rightly call a subhuman condition. Racism is ingrained in actions, institutions, and in the nature of the colonialist methods of production and exchange. Political and social regulations reinforce one another. Since the native is subhuman, the Declaration of Human Rights does not apply to him; inversely, since he has no rights, he is abandoned without protection to inhuman forces - brought in with the colonialist praxis, engendered every moment by the colonialist apparatus, and sustained by relations of production that define two sorts of individuals - one for whom privilege and humanity are one, who becomes a human being through exercising his rights; and the other, for whom a denial of rights sanctions misery, chronic hunger, ignorance, or, in general, 'subhumanity.””

Albert Memmi

About This Quote

Source Book: The Colonizer and the Colonized, Albert Memmi, 1957

Colonialism sustains violence and oppression, granting rights to colonizers while denying natives, creating a subhuman condition reinforced by racism and economic structures.

In simple terms: Colonialism creates a violent hierarchy that denies natives basic rights.

Key Takeaway

Recognize and challenge systemic oppression.

Themes

colonialism racism human rights economics power dynamics

Mood

critical reflective urgent

Type

philosophical political

When to use this quote

  • Academic analysis
  • activist organizing
  • policy reform
  • education
  • solidarity movements

Key Concepts

Subhuman condition production relations institutional racism

Questions to Reflect On

  • How does systemic oppression persist today?
  • What actions can dismantle these power structures?
A Different Perspective

The argument may overlook agency and resistance among colonized peoples.

3.9 out of 5 (9 ratings)

More by Albert Memmi

Explore all 17 Albert Memmi quotes

More Arabs quotes

Browse all 54 Arabs quotes