Hoteps

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Hoteps are a subculture of African Americans who use Ancient Egypt as a source of black pride.[1] The community is Afrocentrist and has been described by critics as promoting false history. One of the group's more recognizable beliefs is that the Ancient Egyptians were black people, as opposed to the more reputable theory that the Ancient Egyptians were an extremely diverse society, consisting of people indigenous to the Egyptian Nile valley, ethnic groups that lived in the desert, Lybians, Sudanese, Greeks, Arabs, and others, rather than a racially homogeneous civilization.[2][3][4]

Origins[]

Although not always defined as "hoteps", the community originated from early 20th century Egyptomania among the black community in the United States,[1] as well as the emergence of Afrocentrism following the civil rights movement (with a later resurgence in the 1980s and 1990s).[5]

The term "hotep" was used among Afrocentrists as a greeting, similar to "I come in peace",[5] 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".[6]

Ideology[]

Hoteps have been described as promoting false histories and misinformation about black people and black history.[1] It is generally seen as right-wing and socially conservative, and has been likened to the alt-right by some of its critics.[7]

They are perceived as conspiratorial, black nationalist,[6] anti-feminist, anti-LGBT and anti-Semitic.[7] Some have argued hotep beliefs are too narrow-minded (focusing only on Egypt as opposed to other aspects of African history),[8] and black feminists argue that hoteps perpetuate rape culture by policing women's sexuality and not criticizing predatory black men.[9]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ a b c d Lovett, Miranda (July 21, 2020). "Reflecting on the Rise of the Hoteps". Sapiens. Retrieved July 7, 2021.
  2. ^ Lefkowitz, Mary R; Rogers, Guy Maclean (1996). Black Athena Revisited. p. 162. ISBN 9780807845554. Retrieved May 28, 2016.
  3. ^ Bard, Kathryn A; Shubert, Steven Blake (1999). Encyclopedia of the Archaeology of Ancient Egypt. p. 329. ISBN 9780415185899. Retrieved May 28, 2016.
  4. ^ Stephen Howe (1999). Afrocentrism: Mythical Pasts and Imagined Homes. p. 19. ISBN 9781859842287. Retrieved May 28, 2016.
  5. ^ a b Gaillot, Ann-Derrick (April 19, 2017). "The rise of 'hotep'". The Outline. Retrieved July 7, 2021.
  6. ^ a b Young, Damon (March 5, 2016). "Hotep, Explained". The Root. Retrieved July 7, 2021.
  7. ^ a b 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.
  8. ^ Bastién, Angelica Jade (October 17, 2016). "'Insecure' Season 1, Episode 2: Failure to Change". The New York Times. Retrieved July 7, 2021.
  9. ^ Bowen, Sesali (May 8, 2018). "What Dear White People Got Right About Hoteps". refinery29. Retrieved July 7, 2021.
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