A case in missing the point:
I have read over this thread and have to say that the original poster is missing the point. Just by saying "white" Rasta and "black", it shows there is no understanding of Rasta. Rasta is Rasta. My friend, Rasta, as you say isn't about being black or white, but it is an African way of life. Rasta isn't religion or about worshiping H.I.M Haile Selassie I or Jah or whatever, though many Rastas (even most) may do this as well. It is about seeing the world for what it is and living in that world naturally. It is about seeing racism and oppression for what they are, fighting against it and understanding the self and uplifting the self in the midst of this.
When a Rasta says "white" in regards to racism and oppression, they usually don't mean individual white people, but rather the colonial political systems which still disenfranchise people of color and which are raping the earth and destroying it. I'm sorry, but those systems are "white." They were created and perpetuated by white men and continue to this day and people of color remain the primary targets of the suffering that is built into these systems. Read the book Pathologies of Power by Paul Farmer (a white man), or read bell hooks, or simply open your eyes and look around you. The political systems in former European colonies, including the US, are still highly Euro-centric and still benefit white people (especially men) more than they do women, people of color, the poor, etc. It's not racist for a Rasta to call out what is reality.
Also, you don't have to be a Rasta to worship God (Jah) or even to sight H.I.M. As Anthony B says "White, Black Man, or Japanese, don't be afraid to pray go pon your knees." However, that doesn't mean that you are a Rasta nor do you need to claim that title. Rasta is an African lifestyle (Livity) and is about African people and cultures. Now, you may say, "Well, our ancestors are from Africa, so we are all African." That may be true, but white people's ancestors left Africa over 50,000 years ago and it has not been white people's home for thousands of years, and the ancestors left voluntarily (in the sense that they didn't leave because they were kidnapped and brutally forced into slavery). African people (black people) cannot say the same. They were forced from their home, stripped of their freedom, and now are still oppressed by political systems that don't care about them. Rasta is African. Live with it and stop complaining.
Also, to the "white" Rastas out there, I have to be a little mean. Worshipping Jah, hailing H.I.M, listening to Reggae, and smoking herb doesn't make you Rasta. Rasta isn't made. Rasta simply is. Also, speaking in a forced and inauthentic Jamaican patois doesn't make you a rasta. Try being authentically you. Understand yourself, delve deep and stop crying because "black" Rastas are "oppressing" you. You are not being oppressed and denied your "Rastahood." You aren't Rasta to begin with. If you were, this discussion would've never started.
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