I've spoken about this before: now I'd like to get out of the way and provide a voice to those who have experienced it firsthand. Here are some words from black Pagans. I invite the organizers of Pantheacon (and other Pagans, wherever they may fall on the gender or color spectra) to consider these comments carefully and to offers ways in which we can do better by our fellow worshippers of color:
In response to Crystal Blanton:
Thank you so much for drawing clear connections between race, class and gender. Pagan community has long discussed gender--and I am happy to see that conversation including all the myriad manifestations of of sexual natures--but topics of class and race areshrouded in silence. We must discuss all the ways in which we dismiss or remain "blind" to exclusion, be it overt, covert or (worse) unnoticed. - Karinabheart
I am not surprised that hardly any of our people attend the various pagan conferences...I am not sure that we are really wanted in attendence. When I search out our people who are practicing various African dieties, I am surprised at the numbes and very surprised at the fantastic practitioners...yogis, herbalists...all very accomplished but practicing in an Afrocentric fashion. So these black practioners would not attend "white" pagan events, and they may not hear about them within their own very close circles. And from what I've been reading about htem, I don't think I"d subject myself to all the ignorance...I've got more important things to do, for myself and my people. It seems to me that there is a dark energy that clouds these pagan gatherings and attracts similar energies. So I just am not drawn to any place or people that will treat me poorly. It isn't always my job to help them see the light. We all eventually have to decide for ourselves to walk out from the shadow. - MeganhenrychtIn response to Pythia Theocritas:
It has been very interesting reading this article, and the ensuing comments. I think about this subject a whole lot, as a biracial pagan woman of both African and European heritage. I remember feeling intense waves of disconnect 20 years ago, when I began to read about Pagan life in America and gazed at the accompanying pictures of what an American Pagan looked like. They didn't look like me, it seemed. I too, had the sad disappointment of not being able to find any depictions of faeries of any variety of hues other than fair-skinned or blue or something like that. - Nici JohnsonIn response to Pythia Theocritas's excellent post, "That Angry, Polytheist Black Woman"
Even though white pagans fall mostly on the left side of the spectrum, they are like many other white folks in our culture in that they've grown up unconsciously ingesting the same racial stereotypes as everyone else. The angry black woman is one of those stereotypes.
Maybe it's because our accents are often different than theirs and they just interpret that as sounding angry somehow. Or maybe it's because we don't do that "sounds like we're asking a question when we're really making a statement" upward lilt in pitch at the end of our sentences like many white women do. I dunno. But yeah, having to constantly reign yourself in so white folks don't get intimidated gets old, pretty quick. - Blackpagan
Well said. The walking on eggshells and the culturally insensitive comments or faulty interpretations of what others have said or mean because of the lack of understanding or covert (even to themselves) predjudice is so completely tiring and frustrating. I do agree that more voices will be heard; as we all seek to grow spiritually - it will be about connecting the voices and not adjusting them down. It is hard to want to re-enter into the larger pagan community; the pain and anger are great - but as the term "pagan" becomes too small for what it happening in terms of global growth, the exclusivity of one cultural/socio-economic voice as the yardstick of the "Neo-pagan" community will have to turn into a multi-plumed fan that can bring life and connection to the worldvoice. As a person of a racially mixed background and upbringing, I have found that it also brings its unique challenges and assumptions into a spiritual community. - Simone Bennett
LOL!!! Its about time our folks started speaking up! I, for about the third time have been told that I am judgmental, that I think I am better than others, etc...you know. And I've been taking it to heart, re-evaluating myself, and each time, I sort of come up...well confused. At these times, I couldn't seem to figure out how I was being judgmental, and in particular how I was thinking I was better than others. What I did notice was that I was being honest, forward, and understanding. Things that were not expected, nor appreciated from a black woman with the highest education in the room. Hmmmnn interesting. And yes, you are right, a lot of folks are not what they think they are, nor who they say who they are. Many are just playing and fooling themselves and others and they hate being reminded of their own shortcomings. - MeiaIn response to my earlier post:
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. - Seshat Anqet Het Her
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. - Vermillion Rush
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7 comments:
"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."
Well, this is kinda true. I haven't seen any original artwork from Egypt showing them with black skin. Usually their skin tones were depicted as ranging from red to yellowish. Certainly, being on the Mediterranean, Egypt would have had a wide variety of visitors and immigrants, but if the Egyptians themselves were depicted as black, I haven't seen it.
This is both a valid concern and also not new. I have pointed out and discussed the minimal participation of people of color within Western Paganism for decades.
I do not think there is a simple solution to this issue. Modern Western Paganism began with an interest in all things Celtic. There were not large numbers of people of color among our Celtic ancestors.
One of the most revered of occultists, Dion Fortune, wrote that we should stick to the natural occult energies of the land of our birth. North Americans, according to her, should focus on the occultism of Native Americans, not the Celts. This, of course, has been abandoned. So to, in my experience, has overt racism been abandoned.
But I do not think we should ignore our racist past. Madame Blavatsky’s concept of "root races" was eagerly adopted by many occultists, including the Golden Dawn, as well as by the Nazis. This racist and obsolete concept, in my opinion, should be completely discarded.
About 15 years ago I received a letter from a young man who desperately wanted to study the runes, but he had read in a book (by an author who is generally respected) that the study of the runes should be limited to people of the Northern European races (i.e., the so-called Aryans). He was upset because his genetic background was primarily African and his skin color was black.
As one of my teachers told me, "Learn from the past, live in the present, create your future." The obsolete and factually false idea of root races and Aryan invasions needs to be acknowledge as something from our past, something we can discard in the present, and create a future where people of all skin colors and backgrounds can come together, not as an amorphous, blobby singular system, but as a group of respectful people finding unity in our diversity.
Can a person with white skin find a home worshiping the Deities of Benin? Can a person with black skin find a home worshiping the Deities of Greece? Why not? This means opening our hearts to people with a skin color and perhaps background that doesn't match ours. It means being open to hearing and discovering their history and their experiences of reality. It also means opening to the call of Deities who, are first glance, seem foreign and different to what we know and with whom we are comfortable.
We can accept people with a skin color different than our into our beliefs with genuinely open arms. That means, however, that such a person must also open his or her heart into accepting a Deity as that Deity is. This means we need to expand our understanding of ourselves, going beyond external banalities such as skin color. I'm not saying that skin color isn't important in the way people interact and live. I'm saying that each individual needs to transcend the ideas of such "differences" within himself or herself and their relationship with the Divine. Skin color has made a huge difference in our history and current situation. How can we make the future better? How can we transcend this and make the world better?
@Wade - if King Tut had been lived in Mississippi, 1965, he would have had to sit in the back of the bus. End of story.
"There were not large numbers of people of color among our Celtic ancestors."
True, but *most* black Americans have some European blood in their ancestry. Irish especially, as both groups occupied the lowest rung of the socioeconomic ladder for much of our history. There was a lot of mixing going on in the 18th and 19th centuries especially. That's why there is such a variation in skin color amongst black folks. So if we're going to go strictly by the blood thing, many black folks have just as much "right" to practice in a Celtic tradition as others.
This reminds me of related controversy regarding the Marvel Thor movie, in which Heimdall was depicted by an excellent and highly talented actor who was very non-caucasian. A friend of mine delivered to me the old hash that was that the Norse deities where teh deities of the norhter eutopeans, and thus should all be northern-european looking when depicted....
I pointed out that when we were all limited in our geography to areas where most everyone looked like us... of course we envisioned our deities looking like us. This is a common human trait.... but now, there are members of many racces in many places, and we all know what the different people of the world look like. I think it is extreme hubris on our part to determine who the Deities HAVE TO look like... or who they want worshiping them. I think we as pagans have a duty not to limit our Deities, but to learn from Them and of Them. I embrace poeple of whatever color of skin being called to worship who and what they will... so long as it is done with respect, and love.
I hope our community learns to make welcome all those who would worship within it. My hearth is open to any who would approach it... if I stare, it is because I find You lovely in the light of Your dedication.
I'm really enjoying all of these recent discussions about gender identity, race, sex, class, sexual orientation, etc.. The longer I've been involved in paganism the clearer it is to me the ways in which it has modeled itself as a microcosm of the dominant culture. For all the questioning and soul searching it seems to have only extended so far. Perhaps that's due to the overwhelming lack of involvement of people whose lives are outside of the dominant culture - and by that I mean the primary individuals shaping modern paganism are middle-class, white, and heterosexual.
I wonder what a paganism shaped by those that are marginalized would look like. More than once I've wondered if what we're seeing is the birth pangs of something like that. I'm so ready...
Black Nyx, you're reading my mind.
I've hesitated to comment at length about this topic, because I keep thinking to myself that the problem is no different or worse than what occurs in the dominant culture. The only thing I can think to do is to be vocal about these kinds of issues, in and out of the pagan scene.
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