Yes, Spiritual Oneness Is Compatible with Identity Politics
How we fight for social justice and find inner peace
Why, I wonder, is the world of New Age spirituality so starkly white?
According to a Pew Research survey, 85% of those who identify as members of the New Age movement are white. On Watkins Magazine’s list of the 100 Most Spiritually Influential Living People, some 75% are white.
Certainly, the privileges of whiteness allow white spiritual teachers to find a broader audience. Marketing yourself takes money, something white people statistically have more of than others. Likewise, as we should all know by now, the Eurocentric West, people of color have to justify themselves far more in the eyes of society than white people do. Especially when it comes to preaching ideas that contradict mainstream narratives of science or religion, white people will have a far easier time being taken seriously.
There’s also the issue that the New Age movement often centers itself around practices and actions that are more accessible to whiter, wealthier people. Yoga retreats to Guatemala are accessible to the upper-middle class of New York and California, not to most Guatemalans. The psychedelic movement can be all good vibes and rainbows when your body hasn’t been criminalized for generations…
