User:Davisbrd/New sandbox

Racism and the Justification of Slavery in the Old Testament
Racism and the Justification of Slavery in the Old Testament was widely spread and accepted in order to further the enslavement of some individuals for another persons gain. This justification comes in part from the Old Testament which carries connotations of racism. The sections below delve further into the comprehension of racist thought in the Old Testament, drawing on key versus of the Bible: Genesis 1:26-27, Genesis 9:20–27, and Leviticus 25:44-46. Various other sources will be discussed in order to gain a fuller understanding of the view of blackness in the Bible, including academic writings, and Homeric, Orphic and Pythagorean myths.

To first understand why blackness is mentioned in the Bible and how its negative connotations emerged, one must first observe ancient theories of blackness across the world and across time. The Greek poet, Homer, was the first documented to draw conclusions regarding blackness. The Homeric and Orphic creation myth, draws conclusions leading to the idea that the night, darkness and blackness all represent a place of death and sin. Pythagorean's theorized the color white to represent a good nature and black to represent a bad one. Even in an early time period, the word and color black was a reference to something sinful. Overtime, this view became widely accepted, culminating during colonialism and slavery. The meaning of blackness comes from not only beliefs such as these, but also, from the greek meaning of the word "black": flegein (φλεγειν), which means to burn or scorch. This meaning comes from a myth where Phaeton, son of Helios, rode too close to the earth on the sun chariot, and thereby burned the skin of some people. In the same text where this story was retrieved, the author concluded the following when observing the concept of blackness: "'Ancient understanding brought several meanings of the colour black: (a) in mythology as the night (niktos) associated with the initial state of the world and with the world of the dead, (b) darkness (skotos) as opposed to light and as a bad nature, (c) black in the meaning of being inflamed (flegein) as well as a result of exceeding certain limits, and (d) black defined as melanin (melanos) responsible for melancholy. Black acted in all the above mentioned cases as a negative, bad and pathological phenomenon.'"From observing these ancient texts, it is understood how was blackness was interpreted in ancient times. This view gave the building blocks for future racism and scrutiny, impacting biblical texts and religious thought. The Bible was used frequently, by slave owners, to provide evidence that g-d did not believe in the abolition of slavery, and in a sense, promoted slavery. In order to understand how the justification was framed, we must observe passages in the Old Testament that were used to justify slavery and racism and texts which imply dark as bad.

In Genesis 1:26-27, g-d is stated to have made all mankind in their image. This, coupled with other passages regarding slavery and with the desire for colonization, formed the idea that g-d created black individuals to be slaves. In the times of colonialism, one may interpret this as a "rightful hierarchy declared by g-d," thereby furthering the advancement and justification of slavery.

Genesis 9:20-27 tells the story of The Curse of Ham, which further elaborates upon the view of blackness being a sin. This story has been the greatest justification for Black slavery for over one thousand years. Upon an etymological analysis of the name "Ham," it is found that the name has evolved to mean dark, brown or black. Only in 17th Century Islamic texts is the connection between slavery and blackness drawn. This distinction was used to justify the slavery of African's, who at the time, were being conquered by Muslims and brought back to the near east. In a documentary by BBC, ''Racism: A History. The Colour of Money,'' multiple theories rose regarding why racism became so prominent across the world. Most of these theories develop a key idea, that “The British don’t become slave traders and slavers because they are racist. They become racist because they use slaves for great profit in America. And devise a set of attitudes towards black people that justify what they’ve done. The real engine behind the slave system is economics.” Money can be a strong incentive, especially in the case of colonialism and slaveholding. The conquering of uninhabited lands and justifying the enslavement of people was done, in part, to further the colonials own economic growth, prosperity and sense of hierarchical superiority. The framework for racial prejudice has therefore been laid out, turning into a self-justing "economic, political and cultural domination and exploitation." The acceptance of slavery, and further justifications are found in Leviticus 25:44-46, which directly refers to slaveholding:"'Your male and female slaves are to come from the nations around you; from them you may buy slaves. (45) You may also buy some of the temporary residents living among you and members of their clans born in your country, and they will become your property. (46) You can bequeath them to your children as inherited property and can make them slaves for life, but you must not rule over your fellow Israelites ruthlessly.'"Here, it is stated, by the word of g-d, that slaves are allowed to be bought and owned. Nowhere in the Bible is the abolition of slavery described or promoted, it is only mentioned. Due to this lack of abolition speech, justification for slavery became somewhat easier for those who agree with slavery. "Whoever believes that the written word of G-d is verity itself, must consequently believe in the absolute rectitude of slave-holding." Those who followed the Bible, justified this enslavement because it was the word of g-d, and in order to be morally righteous in the eyes of g-d, one must follow all of the words of the Bible.