Hoteps
Hoteps are members of an African American subculture that focuses on Ancient Egypt as a source of Black pride.[1] The community is Afrocentrist. It has also been described as promoting pseudohistory[2] and misinformation about Black history.[1]
One of the group's more recognizable beliefs is the idea that Ancient Egypt was a racially homogeneous civilization which was uniformly made up of a single ethnic group of Black people, as opposed to the mainstream understanding that Ancient Egypt was an extremely diverse society consisting of people with a range of skin tones who were indigenous to the Egyptian Nile valley, as well as ethnic groups from the surrounding deserts, Libyans, Nubians, and eventually Greeks and Arabs after conquests.[3][4][5]
The ideology of Hoteps has been described as promoting false histories and misinformation about black people and black history.[1] It is generally considered right-wing and socially conservative, and some critics have also likened it to the alt-right[2] and Trumpism.[6] Celebrities who have been proponents of hotep ideas include Kanye West and Kyrie Irving.[7][8]
History
Etymology
The term "hotep" was used among Afrocentrists as a greeting, similar to "I come in peace",[9] but has gained popularity recently on social media sites such as Twitter and Instagram.[1] It later became used to refer to certain Afrocentric communities as a whole, often used disparagingly to "describe a person who's either a clueless parody of Afrocentricity [...] or someone who's loudly, conspicuously and obnoxiously pro-black but anti-progress".[10]
Origin
In 1930, hotep ideology originated in the Islam-inspired teachings of Wallace Fard Muhammad, a door-to-door salesman and founder of American black nationalist organization, Nation of Islam.[7] Claiming he was the incarnation of Noble Drew Ali, Muhammad "borrowed from traditional Islamic behavioral practices" to create "a myth designed especially to appeal to African Americans."[7] Prominent members included Malcolm X and Elijah Muhammad.[11]
Although its members are not always called "hoteps", the community originated in response to early 20th century Egyptomania within the black community of the United States,[1] as well as in response to the emergence of Afrocentrism following the civil rights movement (with a later resurgence in the 1980s and 1990s).[9]
In 2017, The Root defined hoteps as "people who have overdosed on 'Pan-Afrikan' ideologies they obtained by reading badly designed websites, Hidden Colors DVDs...and poor-quality YouTube videos explaining Illuminati symbology to scary background music."[6]
In 2018, Netflix series Dear White People featured a hotep antagonist, Trevor, played by Shamier Anderson.[12]
In 2019, comedian Robin Thede portrayed a recurring hotep character on multiple segments of A Black Lady Sketch Show.[13][8] Named Dr. Haddassah Olayinka Ali-Youngman, Pre-Ph.D., the character appeared in multiple seasons of the show.[13]
Criticism
Critics of hoteps claim their beliefs are conspiratorial, black nationalist,[10] anti-feminist, anti-LGBT,[12] and antisemitic.[2][7] Some critics have argued that hotep beliefs are too narrow-minded (they only focus on Ancient Egypt as opposed to Sub-Saharan Africa and other aspects of African history),[14] and black feminists argue that hoteps perpetuate partriarchy and rape culture by policing women's sexuality and tolerating predatory black men.[12]
See also
- Black Hebrew Israelites – groups of African Americans who believe that they are the descendants of the ancient Israelites
- Cleopatra race controversy
- Moorish Science Temple of America
- Nation of Islam
- Nuwaubian Nation
- Five-Percent Nation
References
- ^ a b c d e Lovett, Miranda (July 21, 2020). "Reflecting on the Rise of the Hoteps". Sapiens. Retrieved July 7, 2021.
- ^ a b c Sheffield, Matthew (April 23, 2018). "Laura Ingraham meets the Afrocentric "alt-right" — and it's every bit as weird as it sounds". Salon. Retrieved July 7, 2021.
- ^ Lefkowitz, Mary R; Rogers, Guy Maclean (1996). Black Athena Revisited. p. 162. ISBN 9780807845554. Retrieved May 28, 2016 – via Google Books.
- ^ Bard, Kathryn A.; Shubert, Steven Blake (1999). Encyclopedia of the Archaeology of Ancient Egypt. p. 329. ISBN 9780415185899. Retrieved May 28, 2016 – via Google Books.
- ^ Howe, Stephen (1999). Afrocentrism: Mythical Pasts and Imagined Homes. p. 19. ISBN 9781859842287. Retrieved May 28, 2016 – via Google Books.
- ^ a b "TrumpPets Are the White Hoteps". The Root. February 24, 2017. Retrieved May 23, 2023.
- ^ a b c d How Kanye West Became America’s Leading Antisemite. Tablet. Adjei-Kontoh, Hubert. Accessed May 23, 2023.
- ^ a b Touré (December 8, 2022). "These hoteps must be stopped, y'all". TheGrio. Retrieved May 23, 2023.
- ^ a b Gaillot, Ann-Derrick (April 19, 2017). "The rise of 'hotep'". The Outline. Retrieved July 7, 2021.
- ^ a b Young, Damon (March 5, 2016). "Hotep, Explained". The Root. Retrieved July 7, 2021.
- ^ "Wallace D. Fard | American religious leader | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved May 23, 2023.
- ^ a b c Bowen, Sesali (May 8, 2018). "What Dear White People Got Right About Hoteps". Refinery29. Retrieved July 7, 2021.
- ^ a b Ifeanyi, KC (April 23, 2021). "How HBO's 'A Black Lady Sketch Show' beat the worst of odds for season two". FastCompany.
- ^ Bastién, Angelica Jade (October 17, 2016). "'Insecure' Season 1, Episode 2: Failure to Change". The New York Times. Retrieved July 7, 2021.