Vasilisa Jade
Formerly Saint Tigeress
Of all the religions I've studied and grazed over, this is the first time I have grazed the Rasta movement. I felt I should give this some time, because I'm a white girl with dreads. It was brought to my attention that this could be offensive to some Rastas. This of course, sounded ridiculous to me, however, I'm giving this it's due thought and attention.
Firstly, I dreaded my hair because my stinkin hair wanted to be in stinkin dreads. I tried every girl trick in the book. It knotted up, ridiculously. Additionally, dreads in my understanding belong to nature. It is what naturally happens when a comb is not used for extended periods. Dreads were around long before the Rasta movement, although I do acknowledge their connection to the Leviticus "don't cut your hair" bit, and the spiritual "energy in your hair" bit. I also have simply always thought they looked cool.
Now second, I looked up Rastafarianism. I'm understanding that it originated in the 1930's from a time of native Jamaicans being oppressed by whites. One of the original leaders actually taught hate against white people (understandably). Throughout there is a definite theme I see of reverse racism. This is once again understandable, however, with Bob Marley popularizing the Rasta way of life and look, in turn, white people have pretty much stole it.
I completely understand how much of a slap in the face this could be percieved as. I actually saw one Rasta on Facebook reply to the discussion regarding this and say, "yeah they steal everything, even our hair."
Now the thing is, I have many white friends who proclaim to follow the Rasta way of life. THAT, to me I do not understand, and would seem to me to be more of an insult than using a hairstyle... which I would really percieve as a compliment.
How do Rastas see white skinned folk who proclaim to be Rastas? Do you think the majority of them even know this history? Is it similar to whites joining in Native American spirituality and leaving behind their traditions? Is this offensive? And am I understanding this correctly? I'm genuinely curious.
Thanks
Firstly, I dreaded my hair because my stinkin hair wanted to be in stinkin dreads. I tried every girl trick in the book. It knotted up, ridiculously. Additionally, dreads in my understanding belong to nature. It is what naturally happens when a comb is not used for extended periods. Dreads were around long before the Rasta movement, although I do acknowledge their connection to the Leviticus "don't cut your hair" bit, and the spiritual "energy in your hair" bit. I also have simply always thought they looked cool.
Now second, I looked up Rastafarianism. I'm understanding that it originated in the 1930's from a time of native Jamaicans being oppressed by whites. One of the original leaders actually taught hate against white people (understandably). Throughout there is a definite theme I see of reverse racism. This is once again understandable, however, with Bob Marley popularizing the Rasta way of life and look, in turn, white people have pretty much stole it.
I completely understand how much of a slap in the face this could be percieved as. I actually saw one Rasta on Facebook reply to the discussion regarding this and say, "yeah they steal everything, even our hair."
Now the thing is, I have many white friends who proclaim to follow the Rasta way of life. THAT, to me I do not understand, and would seem to me to be more of an insult than using a hairstyle... which I would really percieve as a compliment.
How do Rastas see white skinned folk who proclaim to be Rastas? Do you think the majority of them even know this history? Is it similar to whites joining in Native American spirituality and leaving behind their traditions? Is this offensive? And am I understanding this correctly? I'm genuinely curious.
Thanks