Beyond Black or White

Abstract

The final chapter examines how the broomstick wedding appeals to different groups in the twenty-first century, some of which have no ancestral attachment to the custom. The chapter begins by analysing an “anarchist” marriage that uses the broomstick wedding, in which the author positions it as an anarchic symbol of matrimony since it was used by populations who were often married outside governmental regulations. It then uses this expansive historical framework to explore how jumping the broom was adopted and adapted by various cultural groups and communities in the United States and elsewhere. Viewing the ritual through a diasporic lens, it questions how it has gained some acceptance from Black people in the Caribbean and Atlantic islands who do not hold ties to North American slavery. It then analyzes how interracial couples approach the ceremony as depicted in both popular media and the wedding industry more broadly. The chapter then directs its attention toward Romani populations and Neo-pagans in the United States and Great Britain, and the circumstances under which the custom was revived and/or continued in these groups. The chapter explores the simmering debate surrounding questions of “cultural ownership” and who has the “right” to marry in this way.