Anti-black
racism is seen, at least superficially as a societal scourge that has all but been eradicated from mainstream American and
Western European societies. Sure, there are a few die-hard individuals, mostly displayed by the media as KKK or Neo-Nazi white
Christian splinter groups that routinely preach the inferiority of dark skin to their members. The media, in its depiction
of racists, always points to white Christians as the individuals who introduced the idea of white supremacy and the inferiority
of dark-skinned Africans to mainstream white Christian society. Nothing could be farther from the truth.
The Babylonian Talmud, a book of European Jewish history and lore, explains its now centuries-old religiously-fomented rationalization
of the inferiority of dark skin on page 108b, where it reads: "Our Rabbis taught: Three copulated in the ark,
and they were all punished - the dog, the raven and Ham. The dog was doomed to be tied, the raven expectorates
[his seed into his mate's mouth], and Ham was smitten in his skin." (This is footnoted and the footnote reads: "I.e.,
from him was descended Cush (the Negro), who is black-skinned."
Another European Jewish document, the Midrash Rabbah (Soncino) Vol. 1,
p. 293 says: "AND HE SAID: CURSED BE CANAAN (Breishit 9:25): (Commentary omitted)...R. Huna also said in R. Joseph's
name: You [i.e. Noah is speaking to Ham) have prevented me from doing something in the dark [i.e. cohabiting with his wife],
therefore your seed will be ugly and dark-skinned. R. Chiyya said: Ham and the dog copulated in the Ark, therefore Ham came
forth black-skinned while the dog publicly exposed its copulation."
Mr. Lester, a Jewish man who posted comments on the internet regarding
Judaism said the following regarding the book Artsot Ha Hayyim: "In 1992 a book was published by a leading member of
the Satmar community entitled Artsot Ha-Hayyim. On p. 52 he explains, and quotes other rabbis, that the reason Abraham Lincoln
was killed was because he freed the blacks. This is also the reason why Kennedy was killed, i.e. because he was good to the
blacks. He continues by saying that this will be the fate of any who adopt a progressive attitude towards blacks, because
they are meant to be enslaved. His source for this is Ham's curse." (Please see pages 52A and 52B of Artsot Ha-Hayyim,
below.)
Artsot Ha Hayyim contains the names of many rabbis.
Louis Ginzberg authored the book Legends of the Jews. In Vol. 1, page 169 Mr.
Ginzberg writes: "The descendants of Ham through Canaan therefore have red eyes, because Ham looked upon the nakedness
of his father; they have misshapen lips, because Ham spoke with his lips to his brothers about the unseemly condition of his
father; they have twisted curly hair, because Ham turned and twisted his head round to see the nakedness of his father; and
they go about naked, because Ham did not cover the nakedness of his father. Thus he was requited, for it is the way of G-d
to mete out punishment measure for measure. ...The last will and testament of Canaan addressed to his children read as follows:
"Speak not the truth; hold not yourselves aloof from theft; lead a dissolute life; hate your master with an exceeding
great hate; and love one another."
The Torah Anthology, another
European Jewish document, details the true origin of the slanderous belief of the inferiority of dark skin in Vol. 1, p. 392-3:
"Ham received five punishments: 1. Because he looked at his naked father, his eyes became red, always appearing bloodshot.
2. Because he mocking told his brothers about his father's condition, his lips were made thick and gross, like those of
a Negro. 3. Because he turned his head to see his father, the hair of his head and beard became kinky. 4. Because he did not
cover his father, it was decreed that he always go naked. We thus see that slaves in Egypt go naked. They even did so in Egypt.
This was not because of poverty, since it is impossible to imagine that none of them would have enough money to buy clothing.
The reason is that they live in a hot, damp climate, and it is very uncomfortable to wear clothing. The reason for this is
their geographical location, since the Hamatic tribes live in tropical climes. It was this curse that caused them to live
there. They must therefore go naked and become blacked by the sun. The fifth curse will be discussed later."
At this website, Mr. Lester goes on to say: "The curse of Ham was something
I learned of as a child and could not understand its origin from the words in Genesis. The curse of Ham was widely used by
slave owners in the South to justify the enslavement of blacks. In my studies of slavery I was unable to find the basis. Only
when I began studying Torah and various commentaries did I find the source. Somehow the rabbinic commentaries made their way
into Christian culture and became an underpinning for anti-black racism."
Mr. Shapiro, a Jewish man who responded to Mr. Lester's post ends by saying: "How to defeat racism? Torah is obviously
not the answer since so many Jews who spend their whole lives immersed in Torah are racists."
It does not make sense to believe that any Christian, white, black or green, would or could introduce to the world any religious
concept based on the first book of the Bible. The first book of the Bible was written in Hebrew. Religious teachings based
on this book would best come from individuals who speak Hebrew. White Christians, for the most part, do not speak Hebrew.
European Jews, on the other hand, do.
According to the Encyclopedia
Judaica, under the subtitle "Slavery", Spanish and Portuguese Jews acted as brokers during the African slave trade.
The European Jewish
community (in particular its rabbis) had the religious knowledge and authority to disseminate both truth and falsehood in
the name of God and the Torah. Using this position of authority to profit financially was the real reason for the promulgation
of the defamatory religious myth. This defamatory religious myth resulted in the creation of specific types of bigotry: anti-African
racism, anti-black racism, anti-Hamitic racism, anti-Cushitic racism and anti-Canaanite racism.
How did the victims of this Jewish religiously-fomented
anti-black slander affect African slaves and their progeny?
