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 Report June 19, 2026
19 June 2026
In this week’s segment, we discuss the increase in racist mob violence against Black and brown immigrants in Britain.
Burned Muslim owned business
Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
Racist Mob Attacks in Britain
19 June 2026
On June 8th, a knife attack took place in Belfast, Northern Ireland, in the UK, which was seen on video.
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.

More Stories


  • Jill Clark-Gollub
    Growing Calls to End Unilateral Coercive Measures
    29 Apr 2026
    The United States has made economic coercive measures, sanctions, its primary foreign policy tool, committing war by other means with a comparable death toll.
  • Zeinab Al Saffar
    Negotiations or Annihilation: Can the Resistance Be Talked Away?
    29 Apr 2026
    Israel's diplomacy with Lebanon is a fiction. The goal is complete capitulation and annihilation of the resistance, at the cost of thousands of lives.
  • Radikha Desai and Ajamu Baraka
    The State of Trump’s Union: Geopolitical Economy Hour with Ajamu Baraka
    24 Apr 2026
    In this Geopolitical Economy Hour, Radhika converses with one of the foremost left political leaders and Black political activist and journalist in the US, Ajamu Baraka. Together, they understand the…
  • BAR Radio Logo
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Black Agenda Radio April 24, 2026
    24 Apr 2026
    In this week’s segment, we discuss the importance of including African-descended people in discussions around climate change and a just transition from fossil fuel production. But we begin with a…
  • Carmella Charrington
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Deed Theft and the Loss of Black Property
    24 Apr 2026
    Evangeline of the People’s Coalition to Stop Deed Theft, a grassroots New York City organization, discusses efforts to stop deed theft and the need for legislation to protect homeowners. She also…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us