Africana or African-derived religions and their devotees have been historically persecuted and stigmatized. Dianne M. Stewart (2005) has described anti-African sentiments towards African religions as Afrophobic, which can be traced back to the colonial encounter. The suppression of African traditional religions carries on through false, demeaning media representations of “voodoo,” accusations of witchcraft, and the destruction of sacred items and temples in the present day. This course examines afrophobia as an aspect of anti-Black racism that has sought to eradicate and stifle African spiritual worldviews in the Black Atlantic. We explore the roots of Afrophobia as well as its connections to transnational structures of racism. The course will not focus on the theological or orthopraxic components of Africana religions; instead, the focus of the course is the relationship between anti-Black racism and religious intolerance, specifically the social and political treatment of non-Abrahamic, indigenous, and African-derived religions.

The course is divided into two tracks:

(1) Examining the roots of Afrophobia in relation to Africana religions historically, contemporaneously, and philosophically;

(2) Exploring the possibilities of incorporating alternative spiritual worldviews, epistemologies, and indigenous hermeneutics into anti-racist scholarship and activism.