Slavery, Race, and Reparations – Did God Curse Black People?

I have to admit that I found it a bit difficult to write this article, because I neither wanted to hurt anyone’s feelings, nor poke holes into anyone’s core beliefs. There is no political or “racial” agenda involved in writing this, but still I hesitated because it is such a touchy subject. The only agenda I have is to establish a background of facts, so that we can study the Holy Bible in relation to slavery’s beginnings and history. For that reason, I approached this discourse with the same attitude I do for any biblical subject matter — I’ll just tell the truth as best I can determine, document my research, and pray that others will not be offended.

One of the topics occasionally brought up in Church conversation is the idea that God cursed the black race. I’ll never forget the first time someone argued with me about this view. It was when I was living in Louisiana, during the time of the civil rights movement, which achieved its largest legislative gains in the mid-1960s.

I was in a small diner during the breakfast rush when a friendly religious debate arose between me and the waitress. She believed the black race was cursed by God shortly after the flood of Noah’s day. “That is why,” she said, “Negroes had to live in slavery and have a second-rate life on earth; it’s all part of our Lord’s plan.”

This waitress was a Christian lady. I knew this because I had previously talked with her on my many visits to the restaurant. But her statement and zeal about this subject surprised me, because she was a Negro. I could not convince her that she was wrong. She said she had learned this from her pastor in church. I had not been aware of this attitude, which I have since learned is a fairly common one, although more so then, than now. I didn’t know scripture very well at the time, so I lost that argument, but I never forgot it.

My birth was in 1943, only seventy-eight years after the American Civil War ended, and many people that lived through, or fought in that war, were still alive at the time. I lived in the South and I am white, and I’ve seen the Ku Klux Klan¹ demonstrating in the streets. I’ve seen the injustice of prejudice.

In the 1960’s, I rejoiced with friends, black and white, of the righteous progress soon coming and I naively thought that before I died, I’d see full social integration, when all hatred would be only a bad memory. As I gained wisdom and experience, I now recognize that Satan has used both black and white helpers to keep the racial pot of strife both heated and stirred.

Black Slaves and America

Today, the term Negro² is considered by many as offensive, just as the term ‘Black’ was considered offensive in the early to the mid 20^th century. ‘Colored’ and ‘Negro’ were the terms most used in my youth by both blacks and whites alike. Historically, Negro is a term used to denote persons considered to be of Negroid heritage. The word ‘Negro’ literally means ‘black’, and was used by the Spanish and Portuguese as a simple description to refer to the Bantu³ peoples that they encountered, and is derived from the Latin word ‘niger’. For this study, the terms Negro, Black, Colored, and African American (USA usage) are interchangeable.

Not much historical truth is taught in public schools today and many believe all Southerners (people living in the southern United States) had owned slaves, but they didn’t. Some say there was 400 years of slavery, but there wasn’t.⁴ Slavery in the United States lasted from the country’s founding in 1776 until 1865.⁵ And while most people believe slavery was a massive institution only within the southern states and run by organized white overlords, that is all basically inaccurate.

The truth is, the percent of land owners holding slaves in the U.S. was a small percent of the population (less than 2% in some northern states and more than 25% in a few southern states). And that percentage is even lower, if the whole population is considered, instead of only land owners. And those land owners included both free Negroes and American Indians who also owned slaves. Being black or dark skinned did not make one a slave, only those who were purchased through trade from Africa were slaves. And the war didn’t abolish slavery in the northern states — that came after the Civil War. And the largest American Indian nations (Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Muscogee, and Seminole) did not end slavery until later individual treaties.⁶

While the American Civil War brought slavery to the forefront of attention, the war was fought not to free slaves, but for ‘states rights’ — the southern states didn’t want the federal government dictating what they must do. Those living in the South believed that each state was sovereign and should have jurisdiction over its most important affairs.⁷ The Civil War helped the anti-slavery movement, but that was not the original purpose. Legislation was already moving toward abolishing slavery, although at a more measured pace.

Even before the American Civil War, Abraham Lincoln and other leaders of the anti-slavery Republican Party sought not to abolish slavery. “Lincoln, though he privately detested slavery, responded cautiously to the call by abolitionists for emancipation of all American slaves after the outbreak of the Civil War.” But as the war dragged on, the federal government began to realize the strategic advantages of emancipation. “The liberation of slaves would weaken the Confederacy by depriving it of a major portion of its labor force, which would in turn strengthen the Union by producing an influx of manpower.”⁸

Although emotional interests were high, the real reason slavery ended had little to do with moral or social consciousness. Former U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, Larry Summers stated, “Slavery was not abolished because man was suddenly more enlightened, or more ‘Christian’. It was eliminated because the industrial revolution made it no longer profitable. People had, as you say, thousands of years in which they might have done away with it. They only did so when it was convenient for them; that is, only when it no longer paid.”⁹ So, throughout history, it was greed that fed slavery.

And while white European sailing merchants were mostly the ones that brought the slaves to the Americas, they were only the middlemen to the trade. They purchased the great majority of slaves wholesale from black Africans, who captured other black Africans from among enemy tribes on that continent. An author, writing in The New York Times, wrote, “The historians John Thornton and Linda Heywood of Boston University estimate that 90 percent of those shipped to the New World were enslaved by Africans and then sold to European traders.”¹⁰

These captive slaves went to most continents around the world, where they were sold at retail. And only a small percent were destined to the United States. In the Americas, Brazil received the greatest share, a full 40% of the total brought to both the North and South American continents.¹¹

Although the United States was one of the earlier countries that ended slavery, there are still fifteen countries that legally practice slavery, today. The most common forms of modern-day slavery include human trafficking, enslaved labor, debt bondage, forced marriage, and the sale and exploitation of children.¹² Modern-day slavery estimates, according to the United Nation’s International Labor Organization, are about 21 million people.¹³

Muslim Attitude Toward Blacks

Even Muslims were substantial Black slave owners. This fact makes it hard for me to understand why many African Americans are so supportive of Islam. Muhammad said, “Do not bring black into your pedigree.” The Arab word for slave, ‘Abd [abeed],¹⁴ became equated with Africans and Blacks with the advent of Islam. When in a discussion with author Kola Boof, in Morocco in 1996, Osama Bin Laden¹⁵ said, “when next you meet an Arab, you should ask what is the Arabic word for slave, you’ll discover that the words are the same. Which is why, when an Arab looks at a black African, what he sees is a slave.”¹⁶

Muhammad owned and sold black slaves and, in fact, ordered and built the pulpit of his mosque with African slave labor. So interwoven is slavery with Islam that Islam’s holiest city, Mecca (site of the Haj pilgrimage), was a slave trading capital, until the 20^th century. “It became a custom for pilgrims to take slaves for sale in Mecca or buy one or two slaves while on Haj as souvenirs to be kept, sold or given as gifts.”¹⁷

Arabs’ attitude to blacks derives from the Genesis’ story of the three sons of Noah – Ham, Japheth and Shem. Arabs wrongly claim that the cursed Ham was the originator of the black race and that Japheth begat the full-faced, small-eyed Europeans, and that Shem fathered the handsome race of Arabs. After conquering Egypt, the Arabs began demanding slaves from the south and this continued for 600 years.¹⁸ For a more truthful study of the beginning of the Arab people, see the article listed in References & Notes at the end of this discourse.¹⁹

RACE: what does that mean? Where did the idea come from?

Slavery in the world has been around since the time of Noah and probably before. While slavery in the United States lasted nearly a hundred years, that is pale in comparison to the Jewish nation being captive by other nations for several hundred years in totality.

In U.S. culture we are racially programmed, particularly in regard to the skin color issue. One author said, “I was not born black. I was born human. Society looked at me and deemed my physical features as belonging to the race called ‘black’. But race is no less a fiction than Peter Pan and his lost boys.”²⁰ Because of our culture’s racist roots and the influence of Darwinian thinking, we have been programmed to look at the exterior rather than the interior of a person. We need to begin to see as God sees. “The human heart is a factory for all kinds of evil — including the evil of racism.”²¹

So, does the exterior of a person actually determine their race? The modern meaning of the term ‘race’ only began in the 17^th century. It originated as just an idea, one that divides humans into distinct groups on the basis of inherited physical and behavioral differences. But, in the late 20^th century, genetic studies refuted the existence of human bio-genetically distinct races.²²

Scientifically, ‘ethnicity’ is a better descriptive word for presumed similarities. The term ‘race’ is only popular currently, because it can be used politically to divide, to drive wedges of antipathy or aversion between people of different skin pigmentation. They do this to gather votes or cause chaos or control people or for monetary gain. Creationist Ken Ham said, “The answer to racism is believing the true history of humans in Genesis (as confirmed by science): we’re all one race — not different races.”²³ “And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth” (Acts 17:26a, ESV).²⁴

We can blame Darwin for dividing people into various races. “The full title of Darwin’s most famous work included some stark words: On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life. Darwin envisioned the spontaneous formation of simple life evolving into higher forms through the pitiless forces of nature selecting the fittest. Darwin wasn’t the first to propose biological arguments for racism, but his works fueled the most ugly and deadly racism.”²⁵

He classified his own white race as more advanced than those others, which were ‘lower organisms’. Darwin’s error was later exposed through the field of genetics. What Darwin didn’t know was that all peoples have the same brown-colored skin pigment called ‘melanin’. A person’s genetic makeup determines his potential to produce a certain level of melanin. That’s why we see a range of skin shades in people from light to middle brown to dark. Our differences are only skin deep.²⁶

Through an understanding of biblical history and genetics, we see that variations in human skin pigmentation are the result of reshuffling the genetic potential of Adam and Eve and later the eight people aboard the Ark. After the scattering at the Tower of Babel, groups of people became more isolated, allowing for concentration of certain variations within those groups. Thus the development of lighter or darker skin in certain demographic groups has nothing to do with evolution, but only the decreased genetic potential for variation in isolated populations.²⁷

Genesis 9:18-25 – What does it mean?

Now, what about that belief of the Black waitress, which was mentioned in the opening of this article? What was that curse of slavery? And what about that Islamic belief that Ham was the originator of the Black people? The answers lie in the book of Genesis, shortly after the flood. (For an unrelated, but interesting study of life-conditions and corruption during the time of Noah, see the listing in References & Notes at the end of this article.)²⁸

The sons of Noah who went forth from the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. (Ham was the father of Canaan.) These three were the sons of Noah, and from these, the people of the whole earth were dispersed.

Noah began to be a man of the soil, and he planted a vineyard. He drank of the wine and became drunk and lay uncovered in his tent. And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father and told his two brothers outside.

Then Shem and Japheth took a garment, laid it on both their shoulders, and walked backward and covered the nakedness of their father. Their faces were turned backward, and they did not see their father’s nakedness. When Noah awoke from his wine and knew what his youngest son had done to him, he said, “Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be to his brothers.” (Genesis 9:18-25).

It is claimed by many that slavery of blacks was in fulfillment of this biblical curse, and is also the reason for their skin color, too. Many have been led to assume that blacks are inferior, and that God meant for them to be servants to others. This argument was used to justify prejudice and even to support the slave trade and, later, their social oppression. However, the Bible says no such thing and the Genesis 9 scripture must be twisted or misread to even suggest such a thing.²⁹

First, Ham was not cursed. It was Ham’s son, Canaan, who is cursed by his grandfather. Noah said, “Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be to his brothers.” Furthermore, it was actually Ham’s other sons, Cush and Put, who were the ones who settled in Africa and fathered the races of black people, and they were not cursed.³⁰

Many say that the word Ham means black and refers to the people in Black Africa, but that is not true, either. One author said, “it is wildly speculative to assume that the name Ham actually means black.” He goes on to say that there is a similar Egyptian word that means ‘the black land’, but it is a reference to the land of Egypt and to the dark fertile soil there. “Yet to assume that the Hebrew name Ham is even connected at all to this Egyptian word is questionable.”³¹

“Thus the etymological argument that ‘Ham’ refers to the Black peoples of Africa is not defensible. Likewise, as mentioned above, the actual curse is on Canaan, who is clearly identified as the son of Ham. Thus the curse is placed on the Canaanites and not on the supposed (and unlikely) descendants of Ham in Black Africa.”³²

Does God Approve of Slavery?

Nowhere in the Bible does it state that God approves of slavery. In fact, there are rules against slavery in both the New Testament and Old Testament. For example, in Exodus it states “Whoever steals a man and sells him, and anyone found in possession of him, shall be put to death.” (Exodus 21:16).

So, why did God allow slavery among the Hebrew people? Well, the slavery described in the Old Testament was quite different from the kind of slavery we think of today, in which people are captured and sold. “Unlike our modern government welfare programs, there was no safety-net for ancient Middle Easterners who could not provide a living for themselves.” For instance, if someone could not pay a debt, they sometimes sold themselves into slavery, exchanging their labor as payment for the debt.³³

They were treated as a hired worker, and were released in seven years, or in the year of the jubilee (which occurred every 50 years), whichever came first. In fact, the slave owner was encouraged to attend to and comfort his slave, providing food and housing, if necessary.³⁴ In Exodus 21 you will find a long list of laws protecting such slaves.

Who was the first black person?

The Bible is not clear about who was the first black person, because it is not interested in the color of our skin. If skin color is mentioned in the Bible, it is descriptive, not as a specific subject that we should be interested in. However, we can find some circumstantial evidence to satisfy our curiosity.

“Because Bible history mainly happened in the Middle-East, it is very likely that the large majority of people mentioned in the Bible were tanned (brown). To become the ancestors of both black and white people, Adam and Eve must have had the genes both for black and white skin. This would have resulted in them being darkish brown. A likely candidate for the first person, that the Bible seems to indicate was black-skinned, is Cush.” He was a son of Ham, who was a son of Noah and his descendants the Cushites, who are the inhabitants of Africa south of Egypt.³⁵ The Cushites are often equated with Ethiopia.

And there is more evidence that dark skin began there. “Later in the Bible, the Cushites are mentioned often. In Jeremiah 13:23 we find the rhetorical question ‘can the Ethiopian [the actual word used here is Cushite] change his skin?’, in an obvious referral to the dark or black skin of that people.”³⁶

There are numerous references to dark skin in both the Old Testament and the New Testament, but only as a description. A few examples: Moses’ wife (Numbers 12:1); a mixed multitude (Exodus 12:37-38); a fast runner from Cush (Isaiah 18:1-2); an official at the palace of Jerusalem (Jeremiah 38:7-13); a baptized court official (Acts 8:27); an Antioch church leader (Acts 13:1).

Reparations for Slavery

Currently in the United States, the subject of reparations for slavery keeps surfacing, especially among Black political circles. According to the dictionary,³⁷ reparations are the making of an amends for a wrong or the action of repairing something. The current idea of reparations is that white people now in the United States must make an amends for the slavery that ended around 1865, and the way to do it is for the U.S. government to fork over some money. To many, that sounds more like revenge, rather than fairness.

Duke University economist William Darity Jr. and his wife Kirsten Mullen have coauthored a report about reparations for The Roosevelt Institute. They propose $12,000,000,000,000 in reparations for Americans whose ancestors were enslaved. That is about $800,000 for each African-American household in the United States.³⁸

The “U.S. government — the culpable party — must pay the debt” the report proclaims. The report goes on to state, “Ultimately, respect for black Americans as people and as citizens — and acknowledgment, redress, and closure for the history and financial hardship they have endured — requires monetary compensation.”³⁹ Another suggestion, made by a Christian pastor, is that the United States adopt a variety of social reforms. One of the reforms requests 200 years of free college for black students.⁴⁰

Who knows if United States slave reparations to Black families will ever come to pass, because the advocates of such reparations generally ignore the untidy problem of the significant role that black Africans played in the trade.⁴¹ Greed fed slavery and now slavery feeds greed. Maybe we should examine the Bible to see what God says.

The ‘guilt offering’ or ‘reparation offering’ was to make atonement for desecration or the mishandling of sacred things, things treated as common, rather than holy. As an example, “according to Leviticus 22:10-16 the holy food gifts were to be eaten by the priests and those in their household, not the common people. To do so would be to ‘profane’ the ‘holy’ gifts.” But if eaten mistakenly, “then he had to give the same amount back to the priests plus one-fifth as reparation for what he had done.”⁴² The sacrilege of misappropriating something holy carried a penalty to pay restitution or reparation to the wronged party.⁴³

Well, I think we can all agree with this, although slavery is not a holy issue. But there were other ways of compensation mentioned in the Bible. Even the “eye for an eye” passage in Exodus 21 implies, not exact punishment, but worth not more than that fitting for the crime. What was fitting at the time? (For information concerning the ‘eye for an eye’ concept, see the post listed in References & Notes at the end of this article.)⁴⁴

At the time slavery was abolished, the government assumed freedom and legal rights were some compensation for the years of slavery. There was also a serious movement to provide transportation for returning freed slaves to Africa, but that movement was an overwhelming failure, as very few freed slaves wanted to move there, mainly because their life would be better here.⁴⁵

But I agree, maybe there should have been more done, but the victims are dead, as well as the responsible parties governing at the time. The slave merchants and African sellers and slave owners are long dead. The government politicians that allowed slavery are also long dead. Today, we may think it all should have been handled better, but no one today is responsible for the crimes of our ancestors. But rest assured that everyone considered party to any evil, either dead or alive, will be one day required to answer to God for their actions.

There have been major injustices to humankind throughout history and the vast majority of them have never been legally satisfied. Still, most are historic to the progress that everyone enjoys today. This does not mean injustices should be forgotten or diminished, but if we allow them to be historically recorded accurately, we will at least know what not to repeat.

How can we not be responsible for the actions of our ancestors? If an early ancestor owned a slave, are you at fault? Does a son or daughter bear responsibility for the sins of their parents? Well, the Reverend Franklin Graham said, “When we stand before God, we will be accountable for our own lives, not for our ancestors.”⁴⁶

Then Graham went on to quote former National Football League (USA) Running Back, Herschel Walker: “Why are we penalizing people for what their ancestors did? If we look back far enough, each of us — no matter our race — would find something wrong in our predecessors’ lives. What’s important is how we live our lives today.”⁴⁷

The real problem of slavery is original sin. Original sin means “that all of humanity is considered guilty because of Adam’s sin in the garden of Eden. It is mostly drawn from Paul’s argument in Romans 5:12-21.”⁴⁸ Read it all, but Paul’s most powerful statement is: “Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned. Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men.” (Romans 5:12, 18).

I’ve heard some people say that since humans pass their sins to their children, today’s citizens are responsible for the slavery of the past. They are, of course, referring to part of the scripture from the Second Commandment, “I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me.” (Exodus 20:5).

This may seem like an intentional curse from God, but it is not. God does not condemn children because of their parents’ misbehavior (see Deuteronomy 24:16; Ezekiel 18:20). However, children can suffer the consequences of their parents’ sinful choices.⁴⁹ But this scripture does not suggest that future children will be held morally accountable for the sins of ancestors; it only suggests that there may be mutual consequences caused by the ancestor’s actions.⁵⁰ (A study of the 2nd commandment is listed in References & Notes at the end of this article.)⁵¹

So, don’t think the Bible is saying that actually punishing the children for their parent’s iniquity is mandated, because it is not. “This did not mean that, in a court case, a son would have to suffer the penalty for his father’s crime (Deuteronomy 24:16), nor that individual standing in fellowship with God was determined by the behavior of one’s parents (Jeremiah 31:29–30; Ezekiel 18:1–32). It meant that the excuse, ‘They don’t know any better; it’s how they were raised’, does not work with God.⁵² We are not responsible for the sins of our ancestors.”

In fact, the Bible is very explicit concerning placing blame upon the children for what the parent had done. “The son shall not suffer for the iniquity of the father.” (Ezekiel 18:20a). So, no! Reparations should not be paid to people, for slavery caused by ancestors, nor is any guilt required, necessary, or expected, in God’s eyes.

Conclusion

This article is one of my longest, for I found it not suitable to delete important details and connections. And it is one of my most researched pieces, as you can tell from the long list of references at the end. References are given so anyone can check the information for accuracy or more details, if desired. I have no desire to start an argument or debate any position for or against current political or social issues; my desire is only to present information and let the reader choose what to believe.

The truthful realities of slavery were cruel and heartbreaking. The slaves in the United States before the Civil War, lived very meager, suppressive, and sometimes very dangerous lives in order to survive. So, for my theme-related music video selection, I’ve chosen a song by Cynthia Erivo⁵³ from the motion picture Harriet. The song’s title is “Stand Up”.

The movie is about the incredible life story of Harriet Ross Tubman, one of the most celebrated freedom fighters in American History.⁵⁴ She was born into slavery, but escaped and subsequently made some 13 missions to rescue enslaved people, including family and friends. She used the network of anti-slavery activists and safe houses known as the Underground Railroad.⁵⁵ Selected lyrics are below and the music video is listed in References & Notes.⁵⁶

I been walkin’ with my face turned to the sun
Weight on my shoulders, bullet in my gun
Oh, I got eyes in the back of my head just in case I have to run

So I’m gonna stand up
Take my people with me
Together we are going to a brand new home

Copyright © 2020, Dr. Ray Hermann
OutlawBibleStudent.org

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Reference & Notes

1. Ku Klux Klan: commonly called the KKK or the Klan; an American white supremacist group whose primary targets are African Americans, Jews, and immigrants. The name was probably formed by combining the Greek kyklos (κύκλος, which means ‘circle’) with clan.
   “Ku Klux Klan”, (Wikipedia, Wikipedia Foundation, Inc., 12 August 2020), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ku_Klux_Klan#cite_ref-53
2. negro: the dark color or pigmentation of a person’s skin; in Spanish, the masculine is negro, the feminine is negra (also spelled nigro or nigra). Specifically, as a dark-skinned person, it would be capitalized, Negro (plural: Negroes).
   “Negro”, (Wikipedia, Wikipedia Foundation, Inc., 11 August 2020), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Negro
3. Bantu: the largest sub-branch of the Niger-Congo languages, spoken by more than 400 groups of African peoples.
   “Bantu”, (Wikipedia, Wikipedia Foundation, Inc., 3 July 2020), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bantu
4. Berry, Daina Ramey, “American slavery: Separating fact from myth”, (The Conversation, 19 June 2017), https://theconversation.com/american-slavery-separating-fact-from-myth-79620
5. “Slavery in the United States”, (Wikipedia, Wikipedia Foundation, Inc., 21 August 2020), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavery_in_the_United_States
   Note: historically, there was some slavery in the various colonies prior to the founding of the U.S.
6. Kelly, Annie, “Modern-day slavery: an explainer”, (The Guardian, Guardian News and Media Limited, UK, 3 April 2013), https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2013/apr/03/modern-day-slavery-explainer
7. Drake, Frederick Dean, “States’ rights”, (Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 6 January 2020), https://www.britannica.com/topic/states-rights
8. “Slavery abolished in America with adoption of 13th amendment”, (History, A&E Television Networks, 21 July 2010), https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/slavery-abolished-in-america
9. “The real reason slavery was abolished”, (Money Week Magazine, 6 January 2015), https://moneyweek.com/371678/bill-bonner-why-slavery-was-abolished
10. Gates, Henry Louis, “Ending the Slavery Blame-Game”, (The New York Times, 22 April 2010), https://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/23/opinion/23gates.html
11. “Slavery in Brazil”, (Wikipedia, Wikipedia Foundation, Inc., 18 August 2020), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavery_in_Brazil
12. Harvey, Angie, “15 Countries Where Slavery Is Still Legal”, (The Clever, The Premium Network, 11 June 2017), https://www.theclever.com/15-countries-where-slavery-is-still-legal/
13. Kelly, Annie, “Modern-day slavery: an explainer”, (see above).
14. ʿAbd (Arabic: عبد ): an Arabic word meaning one who is subordinated as a slave or a servant.
    “Abd (Arabic)”, (Wikipedia, Wikipedia Foundation, Inc., 9 July 2020), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abd_(Arabic)
15. Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden: also known as ‘Osama bin Laden’, was a founder of the Islamic militant organization al-Qaeda, designated as a terrorist group.
16. Osahon, Naiwu, “Arabs’ Mortal Hatred And Enslavement Of The Black Race”, (Modern Ghana, 15 November 2009), https://www.modernghana.com/news/249409/1/arabs-mortal-hatred-and-enslavement-of-the-black-r.html
17. Ibid.
18. Ibid.
19. Hermann, Ray, “Abraham’s Son Ishmael: the Arab People and Islam”, (The Outlaw Bible Student, OBS, 3 February 2019), https://outlawbiblestudent.org/abrahams-son-ishmael-the-arab-people-and-islam/
20. Allen, Claudia M., “Crossing the Divide: The Fiction of Race Post-Babel”, (Spectrum Magazine, 7 November 2017), https://spectrummagazine.org/article/2017/11/08/crossing-divide-fiction-race-post-babel
21. “Racism”, (Answers in Genesis, retrieved 20 August 2020), https://answersingenesis.org/racism/
22. Takezawa, Yasuko I., “Race”, (Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 28 July, 2020), https://www.britannica.com/topic/race-human
23. Zairmov, Stoyan, “Ken Ham’s Answer to Racism: ‘Believe in Genesis, There Are No Truly Black or White People’”, (The Christian Post, 7 September 2016), https://www.christianpost.com/news/ken-hams-answer-racism-believe-genesis-there-are-no-black-or-white-people.html
24. All scripture quotations are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version (ESV), ©2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. The text has been used by permission. All rights reserved.
25. “Did Darwin Promote Racism?” (Answers in Genesis, retrieved 20 August 2020), https://answersingenesis.org/charles-darwin/racism/did-darwin-promote-racism/
26. Ibid.
27. Ibid.
28. Hermann, Ray, “When the sons of God were having sexual relations with the daughters of humankind — the story of the Nephilim”, (The Outlaw Bible Student, OBS, 9 December 2018), https://outlawbiblestudent.org/when-the-sons-of-god-were-having-sexual-relations-with-the-daughters-of-humankind-the-story-of-the-nephilim/
29. “What Is the Bible’s View? Are Blacks Cursed by God?” (GhanaWeb, 29 April 2007), https://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/What-Is-the-Bible-s-View-Are-Blacks-Cursed-by-God-123211
30. Ibid.
31. Hays, J. Daniel, “What does the Bible say about race?” (Pruet School of Christian Studies, Ouachita Baptist University, 23 June 2020), https://obu.edu/stories/blog/2020/06/what-does-the-bible-say-about-race.php
32. Ibid.
33. Deem, Rich, “Does God Approve of Slavery According to the Bible?” (Evidence for God, God and Science Organization, 18 May 2011), http://www.godandscience.org/apologetics/slavery_bible.html
34. Ibid.
35. Visser, Marten, “Who is the first black man in the Bible?” (Biblword, 9 June 2017), https://www.biblword.net/first-black-man-bible/
36. Ibid.
37. reparations: 1) the making of amends for a wrong. ->(reparations) the compensation for war damage paid by a defeated state. 2) the action of repairing something.
    Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed., (USA: Oxford University Press, 2008).
38. Caplan, Joshua, “Duke University Economist Calls for $12 Trillion in Slavery Reparations”, (Breitbart News, 14 August 2020), https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2020/08/14/duke-university-economist-calls-for-12-trillion-in-slavery-reparations/
39. Ibid.
40. Ciccotta, Tom, “Philadelphia Pastor Calls for Reparations: 200 Years of Free College for Black Students”, (Breitbart News, 24 August 2020), https://www.breitbart.com/education/2020/08/24/philadelphia-pastor-calls-for-reparations-200-years-of-free-college-for-black-students/
41. Gates, Henry Louis, “Ending the Slavery Blame-Game”, (The New York Times, 22 April 2010), https://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/23/opinion/23gates.html
42. Averbeck, Richard E., in Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology, (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 1996), p. 578.
43. Gane, Roy E., Old Testament Law for Christians: Original Context and Enduring Application, (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic [division of Baker Publishing Group], 2017), p. 384.
44. Hermann, Ray, “‘If anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also.’ — Does Jesus expect us to be wimpy?” (The Outlaw Bible Student, OBS, 27 December 2019), https://outlawbiblestudent.org/if-anyone-strikes-you-on-the-right-cheek-turn-the-other-also-does-jesus-expect-us-to-be-wimpy/
45. “Back-to-Africa movement”, (Wikipedia, Wikipedia Foundation, Inc., 16 August 2020), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Back-to-Africa_movement
46. Bannister, Craig, “Rev. Franklin Graham Quotes Herschel Walker: ‘Why Are We Penalizing People for What Their Ancestors Did?’” (CNS News, Media Research Center, 9 July 2020), https://cnsnews.com/blog/craig-bannister/rev-franklin-graham-quotes-herschel-walker-why-are-we-penalizing-people-what
47. Ibid.
48. Mangum, Douglas; Custis, Miles; Widder, Wendy, “Genesis 1–11″, Lexham Research Commentaries, (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012), Ge 3:1–24.
49. Bergen, Robert D., “Exodus,” in CSB Apologetics Study Bible, (Ed.) Ted Cabal, (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2017), p. 96.
50. Barry, John D., et al., Faithlife Study Bible, (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012, 2016), Exodus 20:5.
51. Hermann, Ray, “God’s Second Commandment — and the Four Generations Curse”, (The Outlaw Bible Student, OBS, 17 June 2020), https://outlawbiblestudent.org/gods-second-commandment-and-the-four-generations-curse/
52. Coover-Cox, Dorian G., “Exodus,” in CSB Study Bible: Notes, (Eds.) Edwin A. Blum and Trevin Wax, (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2017), p. 121.
53. Cynthia Onyedinmanasu Chinasaokwu Erivo: born to Nigerian parents in England, she is an award-winning actress, singer, and songwriter.
54. Laffly, Tomris, “Harriet”, (Roger Ebert Reviews, 1 November 2019), https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/harriet-movie-review-2019
55. “Harriet Tubman”, (Wikipedia, Wikipedia Foundation, Inc., 15 August 2020), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harriet_Tubman
56. “Stand Up”, from the motion picture, Harriet, Artist: Cynthia Erivo; Authors: Joshuah Brian Campbell & Cynthia Erivo; (© 2020 by Focus Features, a Comcast Company, 25 October 2019), Used under ‘fair use’ copyright for teaching under Section 107 of Copyright Act of 1976) – MUSIC VIDEO: https://youtu.be/sn19xvfoXvk