Black on the Inside

[Rootsie]

When I look back on my years of sighting up Rastafari, I see some uncomfortable truths.
 
My embrace of Rasta was a soul decision for true. I knew that as a white person I had no desire to be affiliated in any way with the system of white supremacy that  holds my black sisters and brothers as less, and me, by virtue of my skin, as more.
 
But in retrospect I have to see how I brought my white privilege right into Rasta along with me.
 
I, like ones here, said, 'Well we all come from Africa so I am African too.' and 'I am a blackheart woman, black on the inside.'
 
Which is all well and good to say. But too many white 'Rastas' seem to believe that to say it makes it so automatically. This is a folly.
 
There is no doctrine one can adopt that automatically confers a 'get out of the bad-guy camp free card.' And that includes Rasta.
 
White people, even ones of conscience and good intentions, are constantly trying to find ways to make themselves feel better about the system of equality from which they benefit.
 
Putting on dreads and chanting Rastafari is one way many try.
 
To truly come into one's cosmic blackness requires a level of ruthless self-examination that few whites are really willing to engage, since it means gaining an extensive knowledge of history and rooting out one by one every assumption based on white privilege.
 
What we see here all the time is ones who come to tell us all that 'JAH has no colour', that 'Rasta means One Love', that race does not matter. And yet they say they are 'black on the inside'.  
 
These same people are most often unwilling to listen and learn from blacks, to study history, or to engage in their own lives the struggle to dismantle this system, instead believing that to 'chant down Babylon' all one has to do is stop combing and take up some exterior trappings and assume a victim mentality in relatiion to the system, saying, 'see how they persecute me for my beliefs. for my ganja. Now I am one of the sufferahs too.'
 
This position has no integrity. White people have an 'elite' position on this planet, and each and every one of us benefits DIRECTLY from the system of white supremacy. How ridiculous it is for us to play victim.
 
Our road is a much tougher one than we would like, especially since we are born to believe that all good things are supposed to come easy to us.
 
Coming here to squabble with blacks about their 'right' to say they Rasta, instead of devoting their lives and their excess funds and excess leisure time to end this evil that pollutes the world. Whites who are aware have the absolute responsibility to educate other whites.  And that means, unfortunately, being among other whites probably more than they would like, having embraced this black philosophy.
 
Rasta is not an exclusive club that insulates its members from the reality of the world as it is. Rasta is not ganja and dreadlocks and reggae shows and feelgood-ism.  This is not how matter is redeemed through spirit.
 
Rasta is a call to a life of serious work. Our very privilege makes this a bitter pill for many. We don't like to work that hard.
 
White people in general have a tendency to grab things from any spiritual tradition that feels good to them. Accepting Rasta does not automatically guarantee enlightenment or endarkenment or anything else.  
 
Too many 'white Rastas' see themselves as superior to other whites for having the good sense to reject racist and materialist ideologies. But that is simply false pride, and a continuation of the evil worldview that says ANYONE is superior. The whole point of this exercise we call life is to BE, not merely to REPRESENT. And out of that being, to DO.

Rootsie
 

[iyah360]

Peace.

"Too many 'white Rastas' see themselves as superior to other whites for having the good sense to reject racist and materialist ideologies. But that is simply false pride, and a continuation of the evil worldview that says ANYONE is superior. The whole point of this exercise we call life is to BE, not merely to REPRESENT. And out of that being, to DO.  "

Very good, very very good. That is something the "enlightened" need to work on. HUMILITY. So true.

[Ras_Joe]

Yes Queen this post is so true as I have interacted with white rasta's who feel that the exterior makes everything ok. But like the I said ones must overstand that it is more than just the exterior, renovation starts on the interior and then works it's way out. So if the inside of the house is dirty how will those who reside in it come out. They will be twice as dirty but their acting will hide it from ones who don't have the ability to see through them.

Peace Queen,
Ras Joe

[Princess Tracey]

Iyah… Yes, humility is a very important quality to have and is good to know when to exercise it

When a truth reveals itself personally ...one must grasp it for what it is… and resist the temptation to tell others what they "need to work on"..

It takes no skill to point the finger and see the blight in another man's eye… what good does the purpose serve to call ones and ones out on that? Truly it appears to make one's own self seem much more "enlightened" than the offending ones that are trying to "get it" from where they are at. It is important to take truth for what its worth and use it to re-evaluate one's OWN actions. Then leave it there… for that is where the true effectiveness of change can begin… from within… thereby living an example of a "truly enlightened being."

I do not believe it is for any of us to tell another what they "needs DO"… as it is one's own personal spiritual journey to work out whatever truth reveals itself at any given point in time… and then give conscious thought… (or not) to act from the point one sees fit to choose from, as that is one of the foundational guiding principles upon this God given earth that EACH must make for themselves! One must be accountable to one's Self, first... as the effects will indeed ripple out from everyone's point of being.

Having said that...there are also many valid points for giving voice to keen observations and sharing from within one's own personal experiences. Here, we have some substance to take an opportunity to grow from, instead of just blowing negative criticisms to the winds.

The first comments on this thread are important to note, as they come from within one's own Self and experiential journey, where deep insight is born, reflected and shared. The general observations stated stand on their own merit, and can be properly judged and applied wherever necessary to whomsoever the applications fits. They can provide the necessary means to authentically move and inspire one into a real course of constructive action… as one can note the necessary checkpoints that resonate in concordance from within. Here the points are made in regards to oneself first and then reaches out to reflect upon the greater picture within the context of the whole, and how it relates to those that fit the generalizations.