Navigation the Goth Community as a POC: An In Depth Perspective

With the likes of POC such as Screaming Jay Hawkins, Grace Jones, and Wesley Snipes’ Blade influencing the scene, POC have always influenced the subculture. Though, it feels like only in recent years they have been given much more praise. I’m happy to see the change in the scene, but I am not happy about how pushed into the shadows we were in the past. I can recall some accounts where racists deemed goth to be for white people only:

My First Encounter

When I was 18, I encountered my first racist on Instagram. They claimed that goth was for white people and pale skin. Granted, they were a troll and my friends and I squashed the beef eventually but the entire interaction left me perturbed. Do people really think that way of black goths? I vented my frustration to numerous groups. I even bought a shirt that showed my irritation and honestly goofy clapback.

More Where That Came From

Of course, the best advice is to never feed the troll. They will come back to bother you, and bother me they did. There have been a few smaller instances where people would make fake accounts and purposefully harass me. I’ve been called a monkey with lipstick by at least one of them. My friends and I shut them down but it wasn’t just the trolls who believed that. I think it was around the time that Dolls Kill had their “Goth is White” shirt controversy where I started encountering these people more. You had people saying “goth fashion doesn’t look good on dark skin”, “goth is for pale people”, people on Facebook saying the most heinous shit and fetishizing black goths (there’s one specific guy I’ve seen get kicked out of numerous goth groups for his unhinged opinions, iykyk), and then you had the silent racist types. Maybe it’s just me, but it’s hard to believe that some people wouldn’t support, follow, or even interact with POC goths.. But I’ve seen it. It made me question a lot about the goth community, and made me feel like I I wasn’t goth enough. I started altering my pictures to appear lighter and attempted to remove myself so far from my culture it isn’t even funny. And just as I was about to leave the goth community, I decided instead that I need to do some research.

Knowledge is Power

Just when I thought all hope was lost for black goths, I discovered that many aspects of the goth community have been, and still are, influenced by black artists. Here’s a great video that encompasses the influence that we have created.

The Reggae Song that Accidentally Invented Goth Rock

Not to mention, mindsets are changing. We’re seeing a surge of black and POC goths being heard and seen, social media algorithms are giving us more exposure than before, and  artists like Aurat, Willow Scarlet, and Madame St. Beatrice are finally being recognized. There are still those that will oppose the much needed support for POC, but they are becoming more minute as time goes on: slowly but surely. Funny that the alternative scenes are always about moving forward yet you have people that want to step back when the tides no longer favour them. And those that are saying why should I care, answer this: if you yourself are part of a marginalized group, how can we achieve peace amongst ourselves if we are throwing each other under the bus? My recommendation—find beauty in every walk of life, not just the one you’re used to: talk with others that have different backgrounds to yours, ask questions and really listen to the answers. Let’s try to understand each other so we can bring ourselves the much needed support and comfort that we all look for in this community. Let’s stay spooky together.

Thanks for reading!