Whew that was kind of a long blog post title.

So here’s my conundrum. Recently I came across a highly visible, highly platformed video on Korean shamanism, by a white male academic. Don’t get me wrong– he did a fantastic job. It’s just that… a part of me does ask the question — why isn’t it an actual Korean shaman or mudang‘s video getting that level of visibility and exposure? Why is it when native practitioners talk about their traditions, their visibility and popularity is a small fraction of the view count that the white male academic gets?

Same goes for YouTube content on Taoism, inner alchemy, or esoteric Buddhism — the channels of white men garner the most visibility and occupy the top-ranking spaces. When it comes to educational content on Taoism and Buddhism, Western scholars overshadow the contributions of indigenous practitioners and Asian scholars. The imbalance has the impact of erasing lived experiences and native expertise, and all insights valued as authoritative are inevitably filtered through a white Western lens.

Worse yet, click into any of the lower-ranking videos on these subjects by native practitioners and skim through the comments section — you’ll find white men correcting the alleged inaccuracies of the native practitioners. Also, funny point — POCs can always spot the white dude in the comments section, irrespective of what profile photo or handle they use.

I call this a conundrum because I don’t have a clear solution — it’s a tension between inclusivity (welcoming all voices and perspectives on my lived tradition) and protecting marginalized voices (when the white male voice and perspective talks over the voice and perspective of the lived tradition). Notice how it’s always a white guy who says he knows the most authentic version of the tradition that is not even his to be authenticating, or how his interpretation of a sacred text that he’s appropriating is more accurate. He hijacks the culture and then positions himself as the expert.

At best, a POC is given secondary, lower-level credit for the purpose of validating the expertise of the white guy standing center stage. Not to mention, a POC voice is only platformed if they agree with the Eurocentric point of view. If a POC expert dare challenge established Western expertise — just watch what happens next.

Continue reading “How Do We Reclaim Space? Challenging the Disproportionate Visibility of White Male Scholars in Indigenous Spiritual Practices” →