Race is not a constant. The idea of race changes over time and over distance, with regard to how groups of people see themselves in comparison to others around them. As society moved from interactions between local groups to travel and trade between countries and continents, meaningful distinctions between peoples became less specific. While it was once useful to refer to one’s neighbors by their language or ethnic group, a broader world meant far too many languages and ethnic groups for that categorization to be used. Categories grew, grouping people by their religion, culture, broad geographical location and physical characteristics. This led to categorization based on skin color, a precursor to the idea of race and racism as they exist
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Along with the Greek, other languages developed words to describe black people and their homelands. Another modern country, Sudan, derives its name from “Bilād as-Sūdan” which means “land of the blacks” and in medieval times referred to the whole of sub-Saharan Africa. As Africans moved to Europe, specifically the Iberian peninsula, the concept of the “moor” was adopted, a word that persisted and made its way into the subtitle of a Shakespeare tragedy. In Cairo, black and white soldiers were garrisoned separately, leading to the “Battle of the Blacks” …show more content…
Christians often cited the Hamitic curse, a Biblical incident where Noah’s son Ham “saw the nakedness of his father” (Genesis 9:22 KJV), as a divine justification for the enslavement of peoples with dark or black skin. Noah called down a curse upon Ham, saying that his descendants would always be slaves to the descendants of his other sons. By some accounts, Ham was darker in skin color than his brothers, either from birth or as a result of being cursed. Little note was made of the Kebra Negast, a holy text claiming that Ethiopia was home to the Ark of the Covenant and therefore high in God’s favor. Islam stated that freedom was the natural state of all people, but allowed for slaves as a result of properly-conducted war - a clause that was often abused. There were many other religions, and an interesting aspect often shared among them was a dichotomy between light and dark as a metaphor for the constant struggle between good and evil. It was very easy for some religious people to apply this to the real world, associating good with lighter skin and evil with darker skin. This application was facilitated by prejudiced “anthropological” accounts (such as that written by Galen) of Africans, especially those in the sub-Saharan region, as being more like animals than people, having a naturally low intelligence, and being hypersexual and thus dangerous to
Along with the Greek, other languages developed words to describe black people and their homelands. Another modern country, Sudan, derives its name from “Bilād as-Sūdan” which means “land of the blacks” and in medieval times referred to the whole of sub-Saharan Africa. As Africans moved to Europe, specifically the Iberian peninsula, the concept of the “moor” was adopted, a word that persisted and made its way into the subtitle of a Shakespeare tragedy. In Cairo, black and white soldiers were garrisoned separately, leading to the “Battle of the Blacks” …show more content…
Christians often cited the Hamitic curse, a Biblical incident where Noah’s son Ham “saw the nakedness of his father” (Genesis 9:22 KJV), as a divine justification for the enslavement of peoples with dark or black skin. Noah called down a curse upon Ham, saying that his descendants would always be slaves to the descendants of his other sons. By some accounts, Ham was darker in skin color than his brothers, either from birth or as a result of being cursed. Little note was made of the Kebra Negast, a holy text claiming that Ethiopia was home to the Ark of the Covenant and therefore high in God’s favor. Islam stated that freedom was the natural state of all people, but allowed for slaves as a result of properly-conducted war - a clause that was often abused. There were many other religions, and an interesting aspect often shared among them was a dichotomy between light and dark as a metaphor for the constant struggle between good and evil. It was very easy for some religious people to apply this to the real world, associating good with lighter skin and evil with darker skin. This application was facilitated by prejudiced “anthropological” accounts (such as that written by Galen) of Africans, especially those in the sub-Saharan region, as being more like animals than people, having a naturally low intelligence, and being hypersexual and thus dangerous to