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Have you heard of the curse of Ham? This hypothesis or belief is derived from the erroneous interpretation of the book of Genesis 9: 20 – 27.
The text reads:
“Noah, a man of the soil, proceeded to plant a vineyard. When he drank some of its wine, he became drunk and lay uncovered inside his tent. Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father naked and told his two brothers outside. But Shem and Japheth took a garment and laid it across their shoulders; then they walked in backward and covered their father’s naked body. Their faces were turned the other way so that they would not see their father naked.
When Noah awoke from his wine and found out what his youngest son had done to him, he said,
“Cursed be Canaan!
The lowest of slaves
will he be to his brothers.”
He also said,
“Praise be to the Lord, the God of Shem!
May Canaan be the slave of Shem.
May God extend Japheth’s territory;
may Japheth live in the tents of Shem,
and may Canaan be the slave of Japheth.” see Genesis: 9: 20 – 27.
In the Middle-ages, many biblical interpreters taught that the descendant of Caanan being referred to and cursed with slavery in the above text are the “black” people or rather Africans. This belief was taught in churches and schools till the 19th century. Texts were produced and expanded to clarify that the curse was actually meant for Africans.
One of such texts reads:
“Now I cannot beget the fourth son whose children I would have ordered to serve you and your brothers! Therefore it must be Canaan, your firstborn, whom they enslave. And since you have disabled me… doing ugly things in blackness of night, *Canaan’s children shall be borne ugly and black!* Moreover, because you twisted your head around to see my nakedness, your grandchildren’s hair shall be twisted into kinks, and their eyes red; again because your lips jested at my misfortune, theirs shall swell; and because you neglected my nakedness, they shall go naked, and their male members shall be shamefully elongated! *Men of this race are called Negroes*, their forefather Canaan commanded them to love theft and fornication, to be banded together in hatred of their masters and never to tell the truth.” (Cf. R. Graves and R. Patai, Hebrew Myths (1964), p.12I).
It was this erroneous belief and teaching that ciminalized “blackness” till date. It was this belief that produced or redefined words like: black-market, black-list, black-mail, black-sheep etc. It was this belief that influenced the criminalization of African culture.
Many Africans till date erroneously believe that the hatred for African culture, traditions, history, outfit, language and names has anything to do with the gospel of Jesus. Not at all. This bias had existed many centuries before the African Christian missions of the 19th century. With the introduction of inculturation, the Catholic Church tactically washed its hands off these beliefs and notion.
This belief contributed in criminalizing the “black” skin and in makimg many Africans to develop shame or even hătred for their skin, hair and general outlook. Many African women and men who bleach their skin and put on wigs may not know that they are victims of this belief: hătred, disdain and shame for their outlook!
This belief, ie., the hypothesis of the curse of Ham, contributed in justifying African slavery and colonialism that led to the present neo-colonialism; making some to believe that God gave them the mandate to enslave and rule over others.
The biblcal text in question that was falsely interpreted further reads:
“Praise be to the Lord, the God of Shem!
May Canaan be the slave of Shem.
May God extend Japheth’s territory;
may Japheth live in the tents of Shem,
and may Canaan be the slave of Japheth.” Genesis: 9: 27.
With this verse, the African slavery that lasted for 4 centuries was given a biblical justification.
The purpose of this post is to help you heal yourself of self-hätred because the first steps towards healing of self-hatred is awareness and rediscovey of self. You are blāck and beautiful.
