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White Rastafarians? By Nick Poole

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White Rastafarians?
By Nick Poole

When you think about the word “Rastafarian”, you probably imagine a Jamaican man with dark skin and dreadlocks… as a matter of fact, you probably think about Bob Marley. This wouldn’t be an inappropriate association, after-all, Bob Marley is probably the most internationally recognized practitioner of Rastafari. However, not all rastas these days are from Jamaica, and there is even a small but growing population of Caucasian practitioners. No, I’m not talking about teenaged skateboarders who smoke marijuana and listen to reggae music, I’m talking about real, deeply religious, white rastas. Now, depending on how much you know about Rastafari, you’re either wondering, “How does a White person join the Rasta faith?” or you’re wondering, “What’s the big deal?”. I think it may be wise to first address the latter.

Let’s start with a little history of the religion. Rastafari is a relatively new religion, which finds it’s beginnings in the early 1930s, surrounding the coronation of Haile Selassie I as the Emperor of Ethiopia. The word “Rastafari” actually comes from his pre-coronation name: Tafari Makonnen (“Ras” is an Ethiopian title, literally translated to “head”, but more precisely equated to “Duke”). Rastafari began when it was suggested that the coronation of Haile Selassie I as the Emperor of the only fully independent African State fulfilled Biblical prophecy. People of the Rastafari Faith believe that Haile Selassie I is God incarnate, and refer to him as HIM or His Imperial Majesty. The faith is deeply Afro centric, and maintains that Ethiopia is “Zion”. For a short period of time near it’s origin, the faith was not only afro centric, but Black supremacist. This notion of racism towards whites didn’t last very long, as Haile Selassie himself publicly condemned racism. Rastafari is also well known for the practice of smoking Ganja as the sacrament. Which drives many people to wonder, are white rastas real people of faith, or are they just in it for the marijuana?

Well, there’s no question that many people are attracted to the prospect of a religion where marijuana use is not only accepted but widely encouraged. However, A person can’t just dreadlock their hair, smoke ganja, and call themselves a Rasta. Rastafari is a real faith which is earning respect in the theological world as a religion that pulls a lot of weight. It was a beacon of Hope to the poor population of Jamaica in the 1930s and has continued to minister to the under-privileged today. It teaches solid values such as Positivity, Faith, Meditation, and “overstanding”, the Rasta word for understanding which was changed to have a more positive connotation. It warns against the potential danger of corrupt “Babylon” society, and has been instrumental in driving political change. It’s been just as influential in Jamaica as Christianity, and thanks to the Rasta influenced Reggae music of Bob Marley and other popular artists, it’s increasing in global influence.

Rastafari sounds like a fine faith, why is it so strange that a white person would want to be part of it? Bottom line is that it’s not. It may seem strange from the outside, seeing as the majority of Rastas are black. Many people would also argue that because it is an afro centric religion, white people have no place in it. Well, according to that logic, all Christians should be middle-eastern. The truth of the matter is that, in theory, even a White man could preach Afro centrism. While most white men weren’t physically “taken” from Africa, and forced into slavery, modern science fairly universally supports that all life started in Africa. Given the power of that statement, it isn’t hard to see how Africa found it’s place as the center of Rasta faith.

The question is though, In a faith which preaches the rejection of corrupt white culture, how are white patrons received? There seems to be conflict in the Rasta community. Many rastas are skeptical when they meet or hear of a white person who claims to be Rasta. They assume, naturally, that they came to Rasta through listening to reggae music, or worse, as a way of justifying their misuse of the sacrament. There also seems to be a fundamental distrust of white people, and historically for good reason. A true Rasta would say that all man is equal, and every body, white and black, came from Africa, so it is only natural that All people, regardless of race or color, turn to Rastafari for the “highest truth and overstanding”. However, the common sentiment among rastas is that whites cannot understand the “black struggle”, As they were never taken from their homeland and enslaved. But surely, anyone who really cares about the human race on the whole can appreciate the need to stop violent acts like this. After all, Rastafari itself teaches that all people are one with God, Or “Jah” as they say (Derived from jahweh of the old testament).

In modern Rastafari, especially more contemporary sects such as the Twelve Tribes, White rastas are welcomed. Anyone who believes that there needs to be a fundamental change in the way society treats the “down-pressed” and in the way man views and interacts with one another is encouraged to join the faith. Real rastas are peaceful people who overstand the need for equality in the world, and so they extend that principle even to the faith itself, All men are equal in Rastafari. Some Jamaican rastas are even excited to meet white rastas, as they bring a new point of view to the reasoning sessions, and also because they stand as a symbol of whites acknowledging the wrongs of their ancestors and rejecting “Babylon”.

All in all, white Rastafarians are out there, and they’re no less devoted to Rasta than the first Rastas of Jamaica. So next time you ask a white man his religion, and he tells you he is Rasta, don’t laugh, It may not be a joke.

http://www.jamaica-travel-vacation.com/white-rastafarians.html


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117 thoughts on “White Rastafarians? By Nick Poole”

  1. The truth is that nature and God have decided that the races should exist…God has placed men over men throughout the old testament and from the beginning with Cain and able showed favor to some over others….some are white, yellow, tan, brown, and black but all are brothers in humanity…Though differences surely exist to seek to stamp out those differences is a task against nature and God Itself…..We need only follow the commandments to avoid the wars, and killing……Race is no excuse for hate and death…Embrace the differences and cease oppression……accept reality and make it better…peace to all

  2. @Kerry babylonfree boyce: Your seemingly reasonable assertions are just tricky distractions to weaken BLACK RESOLVE.

    Trust me, you have no moral standing to come here all white and “cerebral”, looking for Rasta lyrics (to make money out of) then in the same breath try to water down the message!

    -Who is in charge of the Dollar that rules the world? Don’t say Obama unless you think we are dumb.
    -Who is in charge of nuclear weaponry and decides who can join the club?

    These are the issues congealed into white supremacy: NATO/WTO/World Bank/UN security Council /the “intl media/Internet etc- refute it if you can. Calling oppressions & invasions “international opinion” is just crass nonsense.

    Its only in 1965 that Africans in the USA (whose ancestors had been dragged there to build the capital for white supremacists) were given full citizenship-the devil as usual is in the detail of that because now that we have machinery & Computer Tech, a problem with the now superfluous population of Africans is building…..

    Fact: slavery in Africa existed before your Portuguese thugs came around.
    Fact slavery is still going mostly by muslim (white arab) degenerates preying on Africans. Fact. Some Africans prey on fellow Africans and enslave them (eg exploiting house help by city dwellers).
    Fact. Many African women are sold into sex slavery in Europe & Arabia to satiate depraved whites in those areas.
    Fact this is not unique to Africa (sex slavery)
    Fact: Jews were compensated for their slavery period under Nazi (how many years?)
    Fact: Japanese were compensated for being interred in USA during WW2.

    Fact: THE MAAFA (AFRICAN HOLOCAUST) REMAINS A COSMIC DEBT THAT THE WHITE RACE WHOSE UNBELIEVABLE NEVER BEFORE SEEN WEALTH HAS DOGGEDLY REFUSED TO ACKNOWLEDGE. You are rich because Africa is poor, period.

    Look:
    a) white people were confined to Europe till the 15th century. People had their places. Of course the white arabs had already messed up things with their jihad/slaving into Africa from the 7th Century (till today in Sudan/Mauritania)

    b) Today-white people “own” the Americas/Australia/New Zealand physically outright. This is a racial pattern of ownership that is not disputable.

    c) Wealth is based on land. Having killed of millions of indigenous peoples all over the world, the white race is in a position to erect a socio-political-military economic system that maintains their status. This is the reality we live in today.

    So your side shows about African culpability-with a view to muzzle us just your (congenital?) auto-response to African freedom: You never want that to happen. You can not countenance this. Why? All you want is to get stoned and sing along Rastafari, imagining that that is all you need to do. Typical liberal HYPOCRITE!

  3. Not one man has a right to hold another man’s life in his hands only the creator has that power. Black power white power its all the same an illusion. Those who preach hate and seperation in the most highs name is in my view most foul. I am not rasta nor would I ever become one. I have met many black men and women and white men and white women that hold anger and hate close to their heart. This only serves to furthur the evil that is taking hold of this demension . Get your shit together people and realize the truth we are all equal in his eyes!

  4. @Joshua- I agree with you totally that racism is pure delusion based on the illusion of skin hues. Totally. I am assuming you are a white (liberal) who imagines s/he has transcended this great hate. However, you can not pontificate from your comfortable perch based on black oppression worldwide. If you are unable to:

    a) acknowledge the injury done to Africa(ns) worldwide by dint of their skin colour.
    b) understand that Africa is a net creditor in fact and not the perennial helpless
    c) And by truly getting your mind round these two above and lobbying your politicals/corporates/military-industrials to quit their shenanigans that are given intellectual/moral justifications by academics/churches/mosques/opinion leaders (sophisticated sophistries)..

    then you are just another smug “enlightened” white fella who is completely clueless about what human freedom is. Hint:

    When Africans worldwide become free of the shackles of the dollar/nuclear bomb/white jesus/allah/mohammed/black devil (including of course our own homegrown debased nonsense) you will truly be liberated from your angst. Meditate on that.

  5. Pinks want to join in cos they see rasta as cool thing=free drugs an sex.they will twist the beliefs make it commercial religion an label themselves as sole experts
    Be ready rastas things move so fast.

  6. My previous statment had nothing to do with the validity of black suffering. Many people have been oppressed and are being oppresed. My people were almost completly wiped out! I have no grudge in my heart because it is to heavey. Love and compassion are eternal and real. I will hedge my bet there. You cannot break it. For all you warriors out their I suggest dropping the hate and get in line with true glory that is forever and ever.

    2. THe “oppressed” themselves have a right to have boundaries and choose who they embrace or not.
      Yes, many people are/have been oppressed. The same way some of them had valid reasons to question who or what they accept, Rastas have that right if they choose.
      You have a right to choose where you hedge your bets but others do too.
      I suggest you “love and light” people consider the point of view of “the oppressed” and “get a clue.”
      This movement may be a religion now, but before it was that-it came into existence to address the needs of a group that still has some justification for existance. The practitioners of this movement are not obligated to cater to the whims of others in a space geared to them. They have the right to choose who they welcome and who they don’t. For outsiders to guilt others for centering themselves in a movement they created for themselves reeks of domination and arrogance. So much for “light and love”.

  7. I’m sorry but I totally disagree with this.

    1st Rastafari is a lifestyle NOT a religion

    2nd This mentions nothing of The honorable Marcus Messiah Garvey who we view as a prophet who foretold of the coming of Haile Selassie.

    3rd The goal of all Rastas is reparation back to Afraka, white people weren’t stolen from Afraka so……where are going back to???

    4th White “Rastas” are already perverting the basic principles of Rastafari and bending them so that they can fit in. Haile Selassie as a Afrakan king is the physical incarnation of God, just as many Kemetic pharaohs were, but don’t use his quotes to eliminate the afro-centric and pan afrakan base of Rastafari.

    There are certain organizations and groups that are culture specific and Rastafari is one of them. Any white person who TRULY respects the movement will respect that they can’t be part of it. As a Afrakan I know I could never join an Irish, Italian or Asian organization. So could our white brothers and sisters please respect us enough to allow us to finally have a culture and organization that is for us, by us and for the benefit of us?H.I.M believes in equality and in 2015 the Afrakan is still not equal due to white supremacy and well meaning white people who infiltrate our movements under the guise of support. Again, if you respect us you’ll totally understand why white people have no place in Rastafari culture.

    Peace and Blessings

    1. Have you never heard of the black Irish? My goodness. Why would you want to perpetuate being racist? If a white person is drawn to being Rasta, embrace them for gosh sake.

      1. could not agree more. Maybe some white rastas are bending or whatever, maybe. But I was taught as a child never to tar everyone with the same brush.

        Rasta is for everyone, anyone who chooses to embrace the beautiful way of life must be embraced because to do it any differently would be ungodly.

        The world must unite in peace, love and harmony, no half measures will bring peace to the earth, we must all unite and if white people embrace the ting and want to help bring unity to this earth, how dare anyone come with any kind of negative talk.

        I know white rastas who are living right and I know black rastas who are only rastas in name and appearance, race is not important at all. A loving heart and knowledgeable mind are what counts.

        Love

        1. I was converting to a Rasta. Because of the love and acceptation. I hope I don’t run across a racist one like that. I’m bringing it to the south, in my town. I was becoming it for the peace, love, the way they never call things mine or say we instead of I. To get the “highest truth and over-standing”. For the healthy way of life with a pure mind, body, and spirit. A lot of the things I already believed in and is my way of life.

        2. I am so happy someone finally had it in their heart to speak some truth. Jah is the one who would want all our brothers and sisters to come together and live together in peace and harmony no matter the color of their skin. I believe that yes the white man has done and is continuing to discrimination and not fully understand the way things should really be . We all need to get together and live in harmony praising Jah and thanking him for all he has done. No matter the color on your skin if you truly believe in the Rastafarian way and live your life the right way and for Jah then everyone can live the life meant for us all. <3

          PS. I do also agree that people should not be so ignorant and saying they are Rasta when clearly they're just in it for the Ganja and the style. Get it right or leave. Ganja isn't just used to "get stoned" it's used for peace among us all and countless other things for the rasta people. And our colors we wear proud to show our loyalty and passion we have for what we are.

          May peace and Jah be with you all!!!

      2. This organization is not about the “Black Irish.” This is about African descendants and Africans. Other groups have a right to solely address the needs of their groups. What is so bad about African descendants?African. having a space for this? Respect other people’s space for goodness sakes if that is what they want and you accept this same thing when practiced by others.

    3. You have a very strange view of equality to say that a man cannot join a movement due to the colour of his skin. We all came from Africa in the beginning be it if we were taken as slaves or left 60,000 years ago to populate the rest of the world. Your race seperates you from someone else as much as the colour of your hair does. White Rastas aren’t stopping black people from being Rastas and we’ll probably always be a minority in the religion but we have cause to be here as well.

      1. We(white people) have cause to be here as well.

        Others have cause to question your presence. The dismissal of the questions actual African descendants have in a movement they created to address their own issues is rude.

    4. Your sir are part of the problem. If what you say is true then no African person should believe in Jesus Christ since he was white. Until we are all color blind things will never change, and you are sir are just as bad as the people you spread hate about.

    5. I and i totally disagree with your viewpoint. You have no right to say who can and who cannot be rasta, regardless of their race or colour! First of all one doe’s not become a rasta. Rastafari becomes one. Adam and Eve were the first Ethiopians to produce Gentiles, the word Gentile is a noun, it is a name or insignia for all straight haired people on the face of the earth. Most of the Gentiles are said to be of Japhet’s generations. The smaller portion of Gentiles come from the Shemitic line, they are called Edomites and Zarhites. These are the nations from Japhet line Japhetic or Japhites. GOMER, MAGOG, MADAI, JAVAN, TUBAL, MESHECH and TIRAS. Everyone on the face of the earth regardless of race and colour come from Ethiopia, even white people. All people were made in God’s image! When His Majesty Haile Selassie I, was informed that the Jamaican Rasta’s regarded him as a living God, he said who am I to question their faith and beliefs. So I and I say who are you and what right do you have to say anyone who is white cannot be a Rasta? Secondly there is nothing honourable about Marcus Garvey, these are the actual words of Marcus Garvey…. “When the facts of history are written Haile Selassie of Abyssinia will go down as a great coward who ran away from his country to save his skin and left the millions of his countrymen to struggle through a terrible war that he brought upon them because of his political ignorance and his racial disloyalty. It is a pity that a man of limited intellectual calibre and weak political character like Haile Sellasie became emperor of Abyssinia at so crucial a time in the political history of the world” . How ironic that Marcus Garvey, like John the Baptist in the end lost his head meaning that he doubting, fell from grace. This ended the career of Marcus Garvey for attacking the king whom he once proclaimed with loyalty and allegiance. I and I will also tell you this the name nesta means messenger, God caused Bob to come from black and white, his message was for all people. I am white and I am a Rasta, I did not become a Rasta, Rastafari became me, that is who I am, That is what I embrace. I am a reggae musician and I am a friend of Lee scratch Perry, he accepts me and he calls me the white rasta. Ever since I was 5 years old and saw Bob Marley on the old grey whistle test something awoke in me that was too powerful to ignore, and as i grow older and research more I discover who I am inside and what life I want to live. You my friend have no right to tell anyone they have no place in Rastafari culture. You can’t believe in equality and then claim that to a person they have no place. I and I have a place, I am living it right now, I am alive and I walk the earth. I am a white man born in Scotland, and I am a Rastafarian and I always will be! I hope you find the wisdom to respect peoples beliefs and not question their faith. For it is not for you to question! Good day to you sir, One love, Jah bless.

    6. ABSOLUTELY!!!, RasTafari IS NOT A RELIGION, it IS A LIVING RECEPTION OF THE HEART AND WITHIN REVEALS THE TRUTH OF LIFE AND IS SEEDED IN THE SPIRIT. So RasTafarI is not a religion is is Spirituality, which transcends any religion past or present.
      Not so sure about the ‘whites cannot join’ as I have been blessed to be invited to partake in Nyahbinghi and Bobo Ashanti sacrid prayerfull gatherings and The priest on Bobo Hill did put our ( mix of skin colours family)name/s in the book of life, in the hills of Jamaica. have also been welcomed at 12 TRIBES…
      The fact that the entire HUMAN race came originally from the very dark black skinned Women cannot be denied. Black, Yellow, Red or White, we are all from the same mother, yet separated through the wicked power struggle of the least powerfull, who knows, knows…
      For I personally, the teachings and speeches of Haile Selassie First, his lineage and his Empress Menen and Aethiopia hold powers and mystics also undeniable.
      As an herbal advocate, The herbstock holds no relevency outside jamaica, Yes, the herb does decalcify the peneal gland and open the 3rd eye when used in meditation, thus opening ones to the truth of RasTafarI.
      From 4 corners of the Earth we shall Gather like sand pon the seashore far from the disease (dis-ease) and corruption the wicked pursue..
      One Love One Aim One Destiny,
      Aethiopia awaits its creators!

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