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
Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
Black Agenda Report October 23, 2026
23 October 2026
In this week’s segment, we hear about the ongoing uprising in France against neo-liberal austerity, colonialism, and white supremacy.
france
Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
French Protests Against Neoliberal Austerity, Colonialism, and White Supremacy
23 October 2026
Bouna Mbaye is an activist, writer, and a member of the Pan-African League-Umoja, the Pan-African Brigade for Palestine, and the US Out of Africa N
BAR Radio
Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
Black Agenda Radio September 11, 2026
11 September 2026
In this week’s segment, we discuss the 55th anniversary and legacy of the 1971 Attica prison revolt. But we begin with the history of W.E.B.

More Stories


  • Solidarity with Cuba
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Solidarity with Cuba
    12 May 2023
    Netfa Freeman just returned from Cuba, where he was one of the coordinators of the National Network on Cuba's delegation to the U.S. May Day Brigade.
  • 1970 Jackson State Shootings
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    1970 Jackson State Shootings
    12 May 2023
    C. Liegh McInnis is a poet, short story writer, and former instructor at Jackson State University.
  • The Murder of Jordan Neely Abetted by Eric Adams, Worst Black Mayor in the Country
    Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    The Murder of Jordan Neely Abetted by Eric Adams, Worst Black Mayor in the Country
    10 May 2023
    New York City's mayor isn't just a self-interested member of the Black political class. He is also singularly incompetent and lacking in the most basic political skills. After a Black man was…
  • ESSAY: British Imperialism in the West Indies, George Padmore, 1938
    Editors, The Black Agenda Review
    ESSAY: British Imperialism in the West Indies, George Padmore, 1938
    10 May 2023
    In 1938, Pan-Africanist George Padmore called for the West Indian toiling masses to fight against British imperialism and for self-determination. Almost a century later, the Caribbean still suffers,…
  • Ilhan Omar Voted to Withdraw from Somalia, but She’s No Anti-Imperialist
    Ann Garrison, BAR Contributing Editor
    Ilhan Omar Voted to Withdraw from Somalia, but She’s No Anti-Imperialist
    10 May 2023
    Congresswoman Ilhan Omar is not the progressive she is thought to be. She follows US policy regarding her native Somalia and she has connections there which compromise her actions. True anti-…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us