I've heard black magic being referred to as a racist term before too. Do you have any references I can read about that? I always assumes it refereed to darkness since night time and darkness have been linked to evil things since the beginning of people.
We actually have a tag about it, if you want to go through it.
- Symphony
In addition to the tag, here’s a Santeria source and another article. I honestly can’t remember which history text I was reading and I’m kicking myself for it, but it described the racial connotations becoming especially strong during the rise of spiritualism in America, conveniently including common practices like “voodoo dolls” in African diasporic traditions, e.g. hoodoo, Voodoo, and Santeria. Yvonne Chireau’s Black Magic: Religion and the African American Conjuring Tradition equates “black magic” with Conjure and points out how superstition, rather than legitimate religious practice, was considered a hallmark of African diaspora. Albert Raboteau’s Slave Religion: The “Invisible Institution” in the Antebellum South also draws attention to some of the comments white slavers said of the Muslim slaves and “the power of their magical charms” (6). Throw in some ages-old Christian prejudice against Islam and watch it go. Apparently white slave masters believed slaves could “hoodoo” other slaves but not white people because you had to believe it worked, suggesting a strongly condescending attitude towards the ‘superstitious nature’ of people of color. The “Magical Negro” stereotype has been attached to all this.
It reminds me strongly of the idea that women, being less rational than men, are naturally more open to the temptation of sin and being bearers of it; in this case, however, the subhuman, uncivilized nature of slaves meant they, in turn, were prone to acting superstitious and engaging with…well, black magic.
- mountain hound