This is comforting news, except for one inconvenient little fact. Most of the rituals and events at Pantheacon already are exclusively white. As I said in the comments of Crystal Blanton's post on "Daughters of Eve:"
Something I noticed when I attended PCon years ago was the ... shortage... of people of color. Not to put too fine a point on it, but every person of color attending PCon could have fit easily into a room party with plenty of space left over for a band and a couple of belly dancers. (I also remember the experience of one Mexican-American woman who was attending a suite party and was repeatedly mistaken for a maid... ).And today Pythia Theocritas comments:
It is no surprise that the modern pagan movement is heavily Eurocentric, and very fond of cultural appropriation for the sake of the ‘exotic’ or ‘ancient’. Plastic Shamans hawk ‘ancient native rituals’ about as ancient as the first tablet PC and Hoodoo and Vodun becomes the latest craze amongst those seeking the spirits of the ‘noble savages’ they’d be too frightened to speak to in real life.As I noted in an earlier blog post, I have taken a hiatus from writing about Vodou because I felt I was enabling the people who wanted a kinder, gentler - and whiter - African Diaspora experience. They wanted something more "authentic" than the One-Size-Fits-All reductionist monotheism which uses deities like ethnic decor. But they didn't actually want to deal with brown people to get that authenticity. I'm guessing once Hoodoo and Vodou become passé, the next big thing will be Curanderia, Brujeria and the Santa Muerte cult. And I'm guessing, sadly, that many of these new "curanderos" and "brujas" will never get any closer to a real Mexican than their local Taco Bell. So I am very, very sympathetic to Pythia's concerns.
How do we fix this issue? How do we make our faiths more welcoming to people of color? Well, a good start would be acknowledging that there is a problem. Many Pagans have shown a remarkable talent for ignoring this lily-white elephant in our living room. I think this whole flap over Z Budapest's comments has opened up some important dialogue about gender and inclusivity. Perhaps now we can also start addressing the pressing issues of racism, classism and cultural appropriation within the community?
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6 comments:
Ashe, and preach my friend! I struggle between exercising understanding and feeling outrage when I see cultural appropriation and individuals who write about or produce images/goods inspired by African Traditions but have no idea beyond what it's called. Worse yet, are people who establish Pagan lists about ancient Egypt and Kemeticism and then have the gall to say that "there is no evidence that Ancient Egyptian pharoahs were black. All artwork depicting pharoahs show them trampling blacks with their chariots." I called the priestess out on her clearly racist remark. I would like to add this: how much of the lack of diversity in neo-Pagan forums the responsibility of Pagans of Color? There are Black Pagans. Why are they not more prominent? Or is it that we tend to 'fade' into the background of cultural indifference when we do show ourselves. If so, how can we begin presenting a unified front? And please don't distance yourself from Vodou too much. I am of Haitian descent but having no Haitian Vodou community to tap into, your book, The Haitian Vodou Handbook, helped me appreciate my heritage more.
But we've got Jews! (Says the JeWitch chick.)
Personally I know one of the reasons I refuse to network with local Pagans or in fact make the cross-country trek to P*Con is because I'm tired of the double takes I get when I walk in a room AND the spit takes I get when folks realize I don't practice Vodou or Santeria or any other "ethnic" religion. I'm tired of having to "prove" that I belong.
Is it a question of making contemporary Paganism more welcoming, or is it a question of making it something that people are drawn to because they think that it has "the juice"?
Why do African Diasporic religions draw in other folks now?
Chas: the comments I've seen from black people have not discussed "the juice" or lack thereof in Paganism. The obstacles they've described are cluelessness, insensitivity and racial privilege. So I think the issue here is that white Pagans could stand an attitude adjustment when dealing with people of color. There appear to be a good number of black people who are interested in the various flavors of American Paganism but who are not interested in being treated like token minorities, asked "can I touch your hair?" or otherwise marginalized and minimized.
Why are the African Diaspora faiths drawing outsiders? As I said earlier, for at least some the draw is the spooky exoticism of brown people's magic. (Provided, that is, that they can find a suitably white teacher to educate them and a suitably white congregation to practice said brown people's magic... ).
If we're going to complain about exclusionary events at a convention with a "Diversity" theme, perhaps we should address the fact that there is less racial and class diversity at Pantheacon (or most other Pagan conventions) than at your average mosque or Christian tent revival meeting. We may want to question the "Diversity" of a bunch of privileged white people play acting at the religious practices of various cultures (including the African Diaspora) while presenting an unwelcoming environment to actual representatives of those cultures. And we may want to ask what we can do about it. But, alas, I doubt we'll see any kind of meaningful response other than the usual self-righteous self-justification.
This is such a good time to have this discussion, though honestly, I can imagine that some will consider this "the worst" time when there are so many other important things to discuss.
There does seem to be a reluctance within the pagan community to address the startling lack of minority faces and voices within its spheres. It's nothing short of amazing how quickly the subject is 'derailed' in favor of finding something else a bit more comfortable to discuss; so called "pagan pet politics"- LGBT issues? Fine. Gender politics? Fine. The subject of the liberal hipster racism underlying much of the pagan community? Not so much. As if being called racist, or privileged, is worse than actually BEING so.
I have experienced the double takes, the assumptions about my character, outright slander against me, and the unspoken rule of "I am to exist along side of, but never rise up to" the role of white women in paganism.
Heaven forbid you bring this up however.
I agree with you that this conversation will, likely, never occur. Derailing, Arab Trader arguments, and other such tactics will consistently be used to insure the conversation returns to the "feelings" of the majority over the "realities" of the minority party involved.
The more things seem to change, the more they stay the same.
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