The elephants in the room: a four-part series on structural racism in conscious sexuality
By Andrew SVN
In the wake of the murder of George Floyd, and the subsequent Black Lives Matter protests around the world, many of us are reflecting on how we can be more inclusive of black and minority ethnic (BAME) people in all areas of life – including in the conscious relating community. While numerous global brands such as Nike, Disney and Netflix have openly come out in support of the black community the response within the conscious sexuality community has unfortunately been rather muted. As a community that sells itself on inclusivity more needs to be done to expand the locus of inclusivity beyond white women and white LGBTQIA+ people to include BAME people.
I’m a south Asian man in his late twenties and I’ve been exploring conscious relating and sexuality since January 2019. My journey has been a powerful vehicle for emotional growth, developing my self-confidence and having more meaningful connections. However, structural racism has been the proverbial elephant in the room ever since I entered this community. Given the increased focus on race equality in recent months, I think this is a good time for me to share my perspective.
In this four-part series we’ll explore the following elephants in the room:
- cultural appropriation (specifically in relation to Tantra)
- the state of racial inclusion in individual spaces
- prevailing attitudes towards race
- the diversity of BAME experience
Throughout the series I’ll propose actionable things we can do to all be more racially inclusive. I hope you find this series enlightening, thought-provoking, and ultimately supporting in your journey towards racial inclusion. Let me know how you get on in the comments below throughout the series. The posts will be added to this introduction as they go live. In the first article we explore cultural appropriation – taking Tantra as a worked example.
If you’re excited about increasing your racial awareness and learning how to be more racially inclusive, then please do let me know in the comments below.
Written by Andrew SVN.
