Expert: Todd Tyszka - 2/1/2011

Question
HI i have read on various web sites the terrible veiw that the  the bible teaches that black people are cursed.This arises from people quoting Genisis 9:25 And he said, "Cursed be Canaan! A servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren."
The theory is that cannan was black,or of a darker skin so thus his descendents today are cursed. Is there any biblical proof using only the Old Testement alone that black people,darker skined people or descendents of the cannenites are not cursed today? thank you

Answer
Hi Simon,
I believe the question should rather be is there any Biblical proof that "black people,darker skined people or descendents of the cannenites" ARE cursed today, and there is none. This is a misunderstanding that has also been addressed exhaustively. The offender and cursed individual was Canaan (the youngest son of Ham), not Ham or even his children. Ham and his brothers were blessed by God, not cursed by God or Noah, which would contradict God's blessing (Genesis 9:1). We do not know exactly what happened between Canaan and Noah, but some speculate that Canaan may have done something related to homosexuality, rape, or humiliation of Noah. Perhaps Noah cursed Canaan because it is more painful for a father to see his child suffer than it is for a father to suffer himself. The Bible does not specify what happened. However, the Bible doesn't say that this curse is a generational curse on black people or anything like that. Black people are not cursed exclusively, nor is any other group of people, however, everyone is under a curse because of the Law, sin and our fallen natures, and the Bible says the penalty for this is death. However, through a genuine relationship with Jesus Christ, who has taken this curse upon Himself, this can change. Galatians 3:13 says, "Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us." This also applies to cases of curses so that regardless is someone is cursed, regardless of how, Jesus Christ breaks this curse. So if God DID say a group of people was cursed, a relationship with Jesus Christ would break that curse.

I hope this helps and if you have any other questions, please let me know. More information on this can be found by Googling the words "canaan" and "curse," or by reading a Biblical commentary or one of the many books out there on Biblical difficulties, which explains passages like this.

Todd