The Rastafarians are, contrary to the media portrayal of them, a criminal enterprise which exploits religious freedom as a cover for drug running. At the time, Ethiopia was the only independent African state (i.e., independent from colonists as well as Arabs, who are white and who dominated Egypt.) Given that Ethiopia had a serious claim to holding the Holy Grail, the “Lost” Ark of the Covenant, an African emperor (Haile Salessi (sp?)), was at the time held to be the birthplace of Man, and was home to a black tribe which had held for 2500 years the claim that they were the lost tribe of Israel (and which even Israel would eventually grant status to), it was a natural choice for invented religious mysticism. So the Rastas declared that the Ethiopian emperor was the 2nd coming of Christ and built their religion around him.
The Ethiopian emperor, however, was a very devout Christian, and was greatly offended. Of course, such foolish claims were also a political embarrassment. So, he treated the Rastas like the criminal enterprise they were. Naturally, the American communists and academics who loved the pan-Africanism (and excuse for pot-smoking) represented by the Rastas, deeply hated the Ethiopian government for this. But they and the Rastas portrayed this as corruption that the emperor would eventually rout. (The commies expressed love for the governor while hating his policies.) When their god-king died, the Rastas simply invented a conspiracy that he was simply in exile until peace was established on earth, while the commies blamed the decline of Ethiopia on the big, bad Capitalist West.
And the Rasta way to establish this peace? Buy copious quantities of drugs from the Rastas, of course.
So there was a legitimate law-enforcement purpose to suppressing the Rastas that had nothing to do with religious oppression. Without meaning to concede that there may have been abuses, I don’t mean to suggest that the ACLU or the John Birch society would have approved of the emperor’s crime-fighting techniques; I just don’t know. It certainly is plain that the communists loved the opportunity to rally guerrilla forces around an African emperor: once chaos is created, they can establish control. I don’t believe the emperor desired such chaos, though.
And the Rastafarians are not an "enterprise" - there are few religious movements that are more disorganized and uncoordinated than Rastafarianism.
I hold no brief for Rastafarianism and I agree that large numbers of Rastafarians make their living growing and dealing marijuana and partaking in all the violence that such a lifestyle implies - but crime is not the sole purpose of Rastafarianism.
Basically, in the early 1900s Jamaica was a very poor colony of the UK that had an all-white government and a 0.5% white population. In Jamaica there had been a long tradition of social unrest from slavery times on down, and there was also a large number of rural Jamaicans living in the country's interior who were descended from slaves that had not yet really been fully Westernized before they were freed.
These were the ones who traditionally cultivated marijuana, who mixed African notions with the Bible taught to them by itinerant preachers and who did not really fit into the modernization of the British Commonwealth's economy. They were agricultural day laborers living in shanty camps etc.
Then three things happened to completely radicalize them between 1930-1955.
The first was the emigration of a Westernized, educated Jamaican named Marcus Garvey from Kingston to New York. Marcus Garvey organized the first serious black nationalist movement, the United Negro Improvement Association. Garvey created a personal empire on his doctrines of black self-sufficiency, rejection of white values and power and a triumphant return to Africa. Garvey became world famous, was prosecuted for mail fraud and disgraced and remade himself in the image of a wronged prophet crying in the wilderness.
In his prophetic mode he returned to Jamaica and founded the PPP - the first ideologically black nationalist political party. He foretold that a king would come from the East to save the black man the world over.
In 1930, Ras (Prince) Tafari Makonnen defeated the other rival Rases to the throne of Ethiopia and was crowned Negusa Negast (King of Kings) Haile Selassie ("Power of the Trinity").
In 1935, Ethiopia was attacked by fascist Italy and Selassie became internationally famous (like Garvey) for entering into the heart of the white man's world (in Garvey's case NYC, in Selassie's the League of Nations) to defend his people from oppression. Like Garvey also, he was initially defeated but made a comeback.
A lot of rural Jamaicans, including many who had moved to urban Kingston after WWII in search of opportunity, began to see themselves as Africans, to see Garvey as a prophet and Selassie as an African savior.
A fascination with Ethiopian culture led to the popularity of the Kebra Negast ("Book Of Kings") an ancient Ethiopian document which asserted that the first Negus Negast of Ethiopia, Menelik, was the son of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba and that Solomon had given the Ark of the Covenant into Menelik's hands for safekeeping - making the Royal House of Ethiopia the true Davidic line.
Obscure black nationalist writings from Jamaica that referenced Garvey in a religious way came into vogue, like a book called "The Holy Piby" and "The Royal parchment Scroll Of Black Supremacy."
Then, in 1952 Jomo Kenyatta began making the Kingston papers with his "Mau Mau" group of Kikuyu guerilla warriors.
The traditional Kikuyu hairstyle of long, matted locks became known as "dreadlocks" and were adopted as a badge of African identity.
So, by 1960, there was a decent-sized underground movement in place in Jamaica that was unified by its love for marijuana as a mystical intoxicant associated with African religious practice, its affinity for traditional African drumming, its adoption of Garvey and Selassie as prophet and savior as well as mentors, and its identification with the worldwide pan-African movement, including through their new hairstyles and modes of dress. They called themselves followers of Ras Tafari or Rastafarians.
Musicians and artists always seem to like pot and radicalism, so many of the urban R&B musicians and singers in Kingston bought marijuana from Rastafarians and also bought into their beliefs. They even began incorporating Rastafarian percussion and chants into their music.
In 1962 Jamaica became independent. In 1966, Haile Selassie made a state visit to Jamaica and was mobbed by worshippers, and thousands and thousands of Jamaicans converted to Rastafarianism.
Over the next few years the movement grew in size and its signature music - reggae - became a worldwide smash due to the enormous international popularity of convert Bob Marley.
When Selassie died/was murdered in 1975, the movement split into various factions.
At the same time in the mid-70s, the national elections had become highly aggressive and Rastafarians and street gangs sided with Michael Manley's PNP. Many prominent gang members converted in order to increase the size of their crews.
It was at that point that recording industry money, drug money and Rastafarianism became inextricably intertwined.
Since then there are splinter Rastafarian groups (like the Bobo Ashanti) that do not believe in the morality of buying and selling "holy" marijuana but raise their own for community use.
But there are thousands and thousands of Rastafarians who are actively involved in the drug trade.
This does not mean that Rastafarianism is not a serious religion for many adherents.