Colonial observers framed African peoples as biblical Ham’s cursed descendants

Evidence

Settlers brought with them prevailing European conceptions of race at the time. Giliomee reports a letter of 1707 from a group of European burghers residing in Stellenbosch, for example, characterizing “untrustworthy” blacks as “the blood of Ham.” This biblically charged view attributing the mark of physically signifying difference was circulating increasingly in European intellectual circles of the day, indicating the fixing of political distinction in terms of religious curse. — David Theo Goldberg, The Threat of Race, 1352 (#exemplifies, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Cape settlers imported the biblical Ham myth to rationalize racial control by 1707 — David Theo Goldberg, The Threat of Race: Reflections on…, 1352; The mark of Cain justified white supremacy alongside the curse of Ham — Robert P. Jones, White Too Long: The Legacy of White…, 663; Colonial observers framed African peoples through anti-Semitic racial typing — Ivan Davidson Kalmar, Derek Penslar, Orientalism and the Jews, 335 (+8 more)

Broader Connections

• An early colonial letter invoked the biblical curse of Ham to racialize blacks #exemplifies (0.92) — David Theo Goldberg, The Threat of Race, 1352