Universal Human Freedom In Sartre's Existentialism

Sartre argues for an absolute universal human freedom; blacks, women, and men are all free to choose bad faith. His argument indicates that blacks are just as free as whites. In choosing bad faith, this is true but the true concept of this changes in the systematically racist society. A true indication of this human freedom is the ‘look’ described by Sartre in Existentialism is a Humanism. As argued by Matinot, the black man is not simply being charged with raping Lizzie because he was on the train, but rather he ‘saw’ the white men (Martinot 60). In their attempted molestation of Lizzie, they were subjected to the ‘look’ of the Negros on the train. The black, who is the other in the core of white supremacy is not entitled to this ‘look’. Sartre …show more content…
White cohesion prevents any infiltration into subjectivity in the presence of whites. He is unable to make his choices and pursue his projects. He is seen perpetually in the negative light, he is ‘the Devil’, ‘nigger has always done something’, and ‘it is always bad luck to see a nigger’. The sentence is passed a priori on the Negro, he is always guilty in the eyes of the white man. He is condemned with the look for the color of his skin, something he cannot change. Sartre would argue that that the Negro is his choices, and even in the face of inevitable circumstances, he could still choose. He is condemned to be free. He could have decided to face the judicial system, even if he is found to be guilty of a crime he didn’t commit, he would still be in good faith. Also, he must live with the responsibility of his actions, choosing not to go to the authorities and also choosing not to shoot the white man when his life depended up it. What about the nigger who was lynched in the search for him? Is he to be held responsible for the action of the lynch mob? In Anti- Semite and Jew, Sartre outlines that one can only know the oppressed if they know them in their situation. He puts the importance of what one does it the situation of being oppressed, like for the Jew in the face of anti-Semitism, for the black in the face of white oppression, the choice is between authenticity and inauthenticity. For Sartre, authenticity “consists in having a true and lucid consciousness of the situation, in assuming the responsibilities and risks it involves, in accepting it in pride and humiliation” (Sartre, Anti-Semite and Jew (George Becker) 60). The inauthentic is the opposite, the one who tries to flee the situation- the one who forgets that he is condemned to be free and his action determines who he is regardless of the situation. However, as Martinot argues, there is a more complex situation involved in a black person’s