On recognizing stealth & covert racism & white supremacy in witchcraft spaces:
I want to take a moment to talk about "stealth racism" and "stealth white supremacy" in the witchcraft community. First of all, I'll applaud a good chunk of the community for standing ten toes down against out loud, in your face racism in its various forms specific to the world of witchcraft. But there's a growing issue of "stealth racism," or covert racism, and we need to start talking about how it's presented in witchcraft online spaces and how it needs to be weeded out just as much as the overt racism should be.
Covert or stealth racism can present in different ways and can be harder to spot if you don't know what you're looking for. It's typically, though not always, carried out by people who are racist and just have always known how to tiptoe around that fact, or by people who have been openly racist in the past, gotten called out for it, and have come back with new names/usernames/looks, rebranded, and learned to keep the racism quiet so they won't get caught again. Recognizing racism and racist tropes when someone isn't hurling slurs, dog whistles, or known racist talking points can be tricky, but it's not impossible. Here are some specific signs I've noticed within public witchcraft forums and social media landscapes:
-They follow, interact with, or align themselves with racists. I was always raised to understand that you are the company you keep. If someone is following a blog or account that posts racist content, it means that the someone is okay with racism. If someone is okay with racism, it's because they are also racist. These two things are very important to remember, so pay attention to the blogs that people publicly interact with, pay attention to the posts they like, pay attention to the things they're willing to overlook, because you are only ever "okay with racism" and willing to follow a racist/not block a racist if you, too, are also a racist. People will try to what about, if, and, and but their way around that point, but it's because it's an uncomfortable truth that many people don't want to sit with. Quite simply, if racism isn't a hard red line for someone, it's because they agree on some level with the racism.
-They use different language when talking to/about people they perceive as white vs people they perceive as non-white. I've seen this a lot, especially on tumblr. If someone repeatedly gives people they perceive as white grace, treats them with kindness and patience, gives them the benefit of the doubt in the case of conflict while also repeatedly reacting aggressively toward and using violent, harmful, or hateful language toward/about people they perceive as being POC/racially ambiguous/racially "other", it's because that person is very likely racist. I remember seeing someone cross my recommendations every now and then (they have been blocked for ages now) that would repeatedly crash out on WOC, using the words dirty, trash/trashy, arrogant, petty, rude, sneaky, immature (all of which are charged words that perpetuate harmful, age-old stereotypes about WOC) against them and frequently accusing WOC of lacking emotional maturity, being backstabbers, being underhanded, wanting drama, never wanting conflict resolution, lacking morals, lacking manners, being conniving, and even working baneful magic on people behind their backs (that one is a timeless racist classic that has actually brought physical violence on POC, so I'm stunned that people still don't recognize this as an immediate red flag that someone is a racist). When you see someone using this kind of charged, harmful language in regard to POC, you need to take a step back and think. Is this a pattern? Does this user have a completely different way of communicating with/about white people than they do POC? Unfortunately, these kinds of racist red flags fly under the radar a lot, but if the pattern is there, it's time to pay attention to it and see it for what it is — a sign that this user could be racist.
-Publicly maligning and shaming POC: Covert racists will often publicly malign, shame, and/or disparage POC creators, personalities, business owners, organizations, etc. They may leave negative reviews, negative comments, or write "scathing" posts attacking POC businesses, accounts, work, communities, etc. These sorts of posts and reviews will often also include unfounded, unsubstantiated claims of harassment, bullying, or even complaints of having been called out for racist/white supremacist behavior or actions by said creators/business owners, and will usually focus on attacking the character of the POC individual and painting themselves as a victim more than anything else.
-They think they're entitled to closed practices. There is often a sense of entitlement among racists and white supremacists in the witchcraft community — entitlement to knowledge that comes from cultures outside of their own, entitlement to resources, entitlement to time, entitlement to community. They may make posts or comments complaining about "gatekeeping", expressing interest in learning about/accessing closed practices, expressing irritation with practitioners of closed practices for protecting their traditions. They may also post about such practices or openly state that closed practices aren't closed at all. This isn't always a sign that someone is definitely racist, but it's a sign that you should start looking at their interactions and behaviors for other tells.
-They often deny POC/minority authorship of practices/beliefs/traditions kept by POC/minority groups. This usually goes hand-in-hand with feeling entitled to closed practices. Denying POC authorship of practices, beliefs, and traditions is a timeless way of implying that POC/minority groups "aren't capable" of authoring such things. This can come in the form of out-and-out denying authorship (such as insisting a POC claim to something simply isn't true and it was created by *insert white European cultural group here* instead), by claiming that POC groups actually stole the practice/belief/tradition from *insert white European cultural group here*, or by claiming that the practice or belief is a "universal truth" and therefore can't be stolen, can't belong to anyone, can't have authorship, etc. This is very much based in white supremacy and supersessionism, and it's a very common sign of stealth/covert racism/white supremacy.
-They tend to paint POC as aggressors and/or make unfounded, unsubstantiated claims and accusations against them, such as claiming that they're being attacked, bullied, or harassed by POC, or (especially within the witchcraft community) that POC (this is more often geared toward WOC) are working magic against them/cursing them/hexing them/putting "the eye" on them, etc. This is a classic way to be racist, especially for white women — make an unfounded, unsubstantiated accusation against a POC, attempt to paint themselves as a victim, and rile hatred (and, yes, even violence) against the POC they've targeted. Accusations such as these will often come with no proof whatsoever, and, on tumblr, they also often come in the form of vague posting.
-They paint POC as a monolith. If someone has a tendency to lump POC creators online in with each other or to speak about/depict POC practitioners of witchcraft as a monolith based on their perceived race or ethnicity, this is a pretty good sign that racism is afoot. Racists tend to not see POC as individuals independent of one another. Instead, they see them as "those people," "people like that," "them," etc, and this is covert language that absolutely can be a sign of racist intentions and beliefs. When you see someone addressing POC/talking about POC and they're using this kind of language, it's time to start paying attention to the situation, because you may, indeed, be dealing with a racist, but sometimes the language isn't there to clue you in and you have to, instead, pay attention to patterns around how they talk about, view, or depict POC.
-"Rules for thee, not for me" mindset: Typically, perpetrators of this kind of racism will have expectations and rules for how they think POC should behave, should treat them, should communicate with them, should exist publicly even within that POC's own personal space, and these rules and expectations differ from those to which they hold themselves and other people they perceive as white. There are a lot of signs that this might be the case — calling out perceived "poor behavior" of POC but never doing the same for white people, calling out perceived "poor behavior" of POC while doing the exact same things they're calling someone else out for, frequently posting about how other people need to treat them while never extending that same treatment to POC, taking it upon themselves to comment about a POC creator in a snide or derogatory manner but never doing the same toward white creators, taking issue/making comments about "perceived poor" mannerisms, traits, language, social norms that they associate with POC.
These are just a few of the most common ways I've seen stealth/covert racism present in witchcraft spaces online, and I think it's very important that we as a community educate about these sorts of behaviors and what they can mean, what ideologies they may come from, and how they impact POC within the witchcraft community. This isn't a "call out" post or anything like that, merely a quick post aiming to highlight a growing problem within what should be safe, welcoming, and egalitarian spaces for witches, occultists, and practitioners of magical, mystical, and esoteric traditions and crafts.
If anyone has anything they think should be included here, please either reblog and add to this list or let me know and I'll add it to the original post.
