Since I first came to this site two years ago, I saw my feet were going to be held to the fire over the issue of my whiteness as one who sighted Rastafari.
I was glad to be questioned, and I questioned myself extensively and grew as a result. I became aware of the many subtle aspects of my privilege, and this helped me greatly in my spiritual development. Truly, for white people to grow spiritually at all, in whatever tradition, they must become conscious of the fact that the moral bankruptcy of this system of white supremacy renders personal growth impossible for those who benefit from it, willingly or not, unless they are willing to take very serious steps in their own lives to address the immorality. You cannot benefit from an immoral system and grow spiritually unless you work in your life to do something about it. You just can't. And dreads and ganja are not what I'm talking about. That's cosmetics.

Many whites who come with a One Love philosophy seem to think this means that they don't have to deal with issues of race. They have been rightly challenged on this here. Again and again and again.

Now, the same ones who insist that race issues must be front and center in Rastafari fail in the same integrity they demand from whites. When light-skinned blacks are presented with the simple reality which Cheikh Anta Diop, a great African scholar, pointed out, that according to the twisted logic of this white supremacist system, people receive privilege according even to the SHADE of their skin, they protest. And emotionally so. Furiously so. Why?

To argue, as some do, that the issue of colorism was brought up to personally attack light-skinned people on this board is ridiculous. Just look at the articles on Colorism appearing everywhere. Do a search. Colorism is a painful issues that more and more people feel is crucial to address. Based on the conduct of two people on the reasoning forum who were quite evidently, and probably unconsciously, displaying their sense of privilege and entitlement in Rastafari and the Afrikan Collective, the issue of Colorism was raised for general discussion. The ONLY personal attacks made here were against Ayinde and other moderators on this board. And yes, those people were eventually banned after some shameful slander and insult and even personal threats were made. One other person had half of his persona banned, the more obnoxious half, i.e. one of his user names.

Now here is a white woman coming to ask this, and I am aware of the seeming inconsistency, but why, when the privileged run roughshod over the world, should they be allowed to do so here?

But what we are talking about here is conduct. I do not come here to speak for black people, dictate to black people, lead black people, and certainly not to slander black people. That some light-skinned people feel this is okay for them to do is their right. But not here. Here it is being made clear that the ones who have been the worst victims of the system should receive the greatest privilege. Not only in the 'real world', but here too. That is just and moral. Nothing more or less.

The issue is not participation, but leadership. Who should take the lead in a Black movement? Who but the ones who have suffered from the ravages of racism the most? This is easy for many whites to understand. For others, apparently less so.

Rootsie