Why is he worshiped by blacks?
Haile Selassie
Wyatt Peterson
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Elijah Hill
Last African ruler to fall to Europeans. Even Liberia was viewed as an American puppet.
Zachary Scott
> worshiped
Just a few small jamaican sects did this in the 60s.
The whole thing was blown out of proportion by the popularity of reggae music worldwide.
James Gonzalez
>Why is he worshiped by Rastafarians?
Because they are idiots.
Jason Foster
Ethiopia always had a slight appeal in the West and a long association with black people. In the American Revolution, black soldiers on both sides were organized into "Ethiopian regiments". Not only was Ethiopia emblematic of Africa and black people, but it had a cache due to its independence and victory of Italy in 1896. As a Christian nation with a well-documented ancient history, Ethiopia came to be understood as a cut above other African societies.
In 1930, the crowning of the Res Tefari (prince) Haile Selassie as Negus of Ethiopia caught the eye of white observers. His exotic yet opulent court led to a brief media craze, especially because Selassie was educated and generally comfortable in European settings. Because Ethiopia was an independent state and an important potentially ally for the colonial powers, members of the European nobility attended his coronation. By opposing colonization but also working to turn Ethiopia into a more westernized country, Haile Selassie became a vaguely romantic figure to western observers. He was also, I believe, the first black person to appear on Time Magazine. Despite not having very much international relevance, Haile Selassie was a household name.
Imagine you're a poor black Jamaican in 1930. You've lost your job thanks to the Great Depression and have to work as a field hand. Though you don't have much access to the outside world, you know there's a guy named Res Teferi Haile Selassie who all the newspapers talk about. And he's black like you.
Haile Selassie became a rallying point for an anticolonial spiritual movement similar to the Native American Ghost Dance, and later became symbolic of Jamaica because many reggae musicians were Rastafarians.
Jackson Phillips
This is why I come to this board. Thanks for making Veeky Forums a better place, user.
Leo Jenkins
>be a semitic dark skinned caucasoid from east africa
>get worshiped by a bunch of west-african negroid ameriqueeshas and potniggers
gets my noggin joggin
Charles Bailey
Rastas are a despised minority in Jamaica, they're considered crazy woowoo cultists on a par with Scientologists. The only reason you've ever heard of them is because one of them just happened to be one of the greatest musicians of his age.
William Brooks
>caucasoid from east africa
there's no prove for this? there's no way east africans are caucasoid
Grayson Cooper
Not saying they are, but Ethiopians who are half white look really pretty much Mediterranean.