Hoteps

Last updated November 09, 2024

In the United States, self-designated hoteps are members of a Black American subculture that appropriates ancient Egyptian history as a source of Black pride.^[1] They have been described as promoting pseudohistory ^[2] and misinformation about Black history.^[1] Hoteps espouse a mixture of Black radicalism and social conservatism.^[3]

One of their more recognizable beliefs uses modern American racial and ethnic constructs to define the civilization of ancient Egypt, asserting that it was racially homogeneous and uniformly made up of a single ethnic group of Black people. This belief stands at odds with the mainstream and scholarly understanding that ancient Egypt was an extremely diverse civilization consisting of people of various skin tones and backgrounds, including those who were indigenous to the Nile Valley and those who came from the surrounding deserts and regions, such as Libyans, Nubians, Greeks, and Arabs, to name a few.^[4]^[5]^[6]

The hotep subculture among Black Americans has generated controversy for its erroneous account of African history (including the lack of focus on sub-Saharan Africa); its fostering of misogyny, particularly against Black women vis-à-vis Black men; and its promotion of anti-Jewish conspiracy theories in a similar fashion to the Black Hebrew Israelites. The movement and its ideas—which became popular among the Black community during the wave of American Egyptomania and again after the civil rights movement—have featured prominently among Black nationalists, in organizations like the Nation of Islam, and in films and media in the United States.

Etymology

The term "hotep" was originally used among Afrocentrists as a greeting, similar to "I come in peace",^[7] but by the mid-2010s had come to be 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."^[8]^[a]

Views

Hoteps espouse a mixture of black radicalism and social conservatism,^[3] often through generating social media content on sites such as Twitter and Instagram.^[1] Members of the subculture promote conspiracy theories,^[1]^[8] often through internet memes,^[1] as well as inaccurate historical claims.^[1] Hoteps often denounce homosexuality and interracial marriage,^[1] promote the view that Black women should be subordinate to Black men,^[1] and oppose LGBT rights and feminism, which they view as inimical to Black liberation.^[9] A substantial number of hoteps promote antisemitic conspiracy theories.^[2]^[10] Commentator Matthew Sheffield wrote in 2018 that "a significant portion of self-identified hoteps have so much in common with far-right white nationalism" that the subculture "has been dubbed the 'ankh right' by some of its black critics" (a play on the term "alt-right").^[2]

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."^[11]

Origin

In the 1930s, hotep ideology originated in the Islam-inspired teachings of Wallace Fard Muhammad, a door-to-door salesman and founder of the American black nationalist organization Nation of Islam.^[10] 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".^[10] Prominent members included Malcolm X and Elijah Muhammad.^[12]

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).^[7]

In popular culture

In 2018, the Netflix series Dear White People featured a hotep antagonist, Trevor, played by Shamier Anderson.^[9]

In 2019, comedian Robin Thede portrayed a recurring hotep character on multiple segments of A Black Lady Sketch Show .^[13]^[14]

Reception

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).^[15] Black feminists argue that hoteps perpetuate patriarchy and rape culture by policing women's sexuality and tolerating predatory black men.^[9]

Anthropologist Miranda Lovett, writing in the online magazine Sapiens , critiqued Hotep-promoted internet memes that "juxtapose incongruous elements of African culture and contemporary life" and present Black women as "Nubian queens" or "mothers of civilization" who "are expected to serve primarily as support to their Black husbands".^[1] Lovett argues: "The Hoteps movement is a testament to the uniquely painful and complicated history of African Americans. It is anchored in a long tradition of looking to Africa for points of needed pride. Yet it also risks propagating false histories and conventions, and, ironically, disparaging Black women and those who are LGBTQ in the service of elevating Black identity."^[1]

Notable adherents

Notable people who have promoted hotep ideas, or have been described as part of hotep subculture, include Kanye West,^[10]^[14] Kyrie Irving,^[10]^[14] and Umar Johnson.^[3]

Notes

↑ Anthropologist Miranda Lovett wrote that "Pinpointing when and where this definition of 'Hotep' arose is difficult."^[1]

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References

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Lovett, Miranda (July 21, 2020). "Reflecting on the Rise of the Hoteps". Sapiens. Retrieved July 7, 2021.
1 2 3 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.
1 2 3 Owens, Cassie (January 2, 2018). "Popular speaker Umar Johnson faces fines over lack of psychology license". The Philadelphia Inquirer .
↑ Lefkowitz, Mary R.; Rogers, Guy Maclean (1996). Black Athena Revisited. UNC Press Books. p. 162. ISBN 9780807845554 . Retrieved May 28, 2016– via Google Books.
↑ Bard, Kathryn A.; Shubert, Steven Blake, eds. (1999). Encyclopedia of the Archaeology of Ancient Egypt. Routledge. p. 329. ISBN 9780415185899 . Retrieved May 28, 2016– via Google Books.
↑ Howe, Stephen (1999). Afrocentrism: Mythical Pasts and Imagined Homes. Verso. p. 19. ISBN 9781859842287 . Retrieved May 28, 2016– via Google Books.
1 2 Gaillot, Ann-Derrick (April 19, 2017). "The rise of 'hotep'". The Outline. Retrieved July 7, 2021.
1 2 Young, Damon (March 5, 2016). "Hotep, Explained". The Root . Retrieved July 7, 2021.
1 2 3 Bowen, Sesali (May 8, 2018). "What Dear White People Got Right About Hoteps". Refinery29 . Retrieved July 7, 2021.
1 2 3 4 5 How Kanye West Became America's Leading Antisemite. Tablet. Adjei-Kontoh, Hubert. Accessed May 23, 2023.
↑ "TrumpPets Are the White Hoteps". The Root. February 24, 2017. Retrieved May 23, 2023.
↑ "Wallace D. Fard | American religious leader | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved May 23, 2023.
↑ Ifeanyi, KC (April 23, 2021). "How HBO's 'A Black Lady Sketch Show' beat the worst of odds for season two". FastCompany .
1 2 3 Touré (December 8, 2022). "These hoteps must be stopped, y'all". TheGrio. Retrieved May 23, 2023.
↑ Bastién, Angelica Jade (October 17, 2016). "'Insecure' Season 1, Episode 2: Failure to Change". The New York Times . Retrieved July 7, 2021.