What is religious racism, and how has it progressed from past to present?

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The first amendment to the United States Constitution guarantees that everyone has the right to practice his or her own religion or no religion at all. A similar guarantee exists in Canada under its Charter of Rights and Freedoms. However, this right to religious freedom hasn’t necessarily been assured for practitioners of traditional African religions throughout history in North America.

On this episode of UnTextbooked, producer Jordan Pettiford interviews Dr. Danielle Boaz to discuss the impact of religious racism and how it’s been consistently used, from colonial times to modern day, to oppress practitioners of African diaspora religions. 

BOOK: Banning Black Gods: Laws and Religions of the African Diaspora

GUEST: Dr. Danielle Boaz

PRODUCER: Jordan Pettiford (Columbia University ‘25)

MUSIC: Silas Bohen and Coleman Hamilton

PRODUCTION: Pod People - Hannah Pedersen, Danielle Roth, Shaneez Tyndall, and Michael Aquino.

SHOW NOTES: Link to Dr. Boaz’s work