Black Agenda Report
Black Agenda Report
News, commentary and analysis from the black left.

  • Home
  • Africa
  • African America
  • Education
  • Environment
  • International
  • Media and Culture
  • Political Economy
  • Radio
  • US Politics
  • War and Empire

White Supremacy Goes Back to the Crusades
Black Agenda Radio with Nellie Bailey and Glen Ford
12 Nov 2019
🖨️ Print Article

The roots of western European anti-Blackness lie in the Middle Ages, in the Crusades to seize Arab lands, said Cord Whitaker, a professor at Wellesley College and author of “Black Metaphors: How Racism Emerged from Medieval Race-Thinking.” It was during this era that “you started to see the idea that darkness of skin, blackness, denoted potential evil,” said Whitaker. “It was still not the racial ideology we have today, but it was an important step in getting there.”

white supremacy

Related Podcasts

BAR Radio Logo
Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
Black Agenda Radio September 26, 2025
26 September 2025
In this week’s segment we discuss the need for self-defense against racist, white supremacist forces.
One People’s Project
Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
One People's Project and the Fight Against Racism and Fascism
26 September 2025
Our guest is Daryle Lamont Jenkins, founder of One People’s Project.
NYPD gang database
Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
NYPD Gang Database Targets Young Black and Latino Men
28 February 2025
Proposed legislation in the New York City Council, Intro 798, seeks to end the NYPD’s Gang Database, ensuring that individuals unjustly labeled as

More Stories


  • No Nuclear War
    Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    Margaret Kimberley speaks at the No Nuclear War Conference - National Press Club in Washington
    11 Dec 2024
    On December 7, 2024, Scott Ritter convened a panel at the National Press Club in Washington to discuss the increasing risk of nuclear war between the United States and Russia. Margaret Kimberley was…
  • Black Agenda Radio
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Black Agenda Radio December 6, 2024
    06 Dec 2024
    In this week’s segment, a British journalist gives an update on his case after being charged with violating the Terrorism Act of 2020. But first, we talk to Omali Yeshitela about the sentencing of…
  • Omali Yeshitela
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Omali Yeshitela on the Uhuru 3 Sentencing and the Indictment of the U.S.
    06 Dec 2024
    Omali Yeshitela, Chairman of the African People's Socialist Party Omali Yeshitela joins us from St. Louis to discuss the federal case in which he, Penny Hess, and Jesse Nevel were recently convicted…
  • Richard Medhurst tweet
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Richard Medhurst Discusses the Terrorism Act and the Criminalization of Journalism
    06 Dec 2024
    Richard Medhurst joins us to provide an update on his case resulting from his arrest under the Terrorism Act and discuss the impact of repression on other journalists and international events.
  • Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    The Problem with Joe and Hunter
    04 Dec 2024
    The outrage surrounding President Biden’s pardon of his son Hunter Biden is not just about clemency for the relatively minor charges he was facing. The younger Biden has lived a life of great…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us