Curse of Ham

The Curse of Ham is a misnomer for the curse upon Canaan that was imposed by the biblical patriarch Noah. The relevant narrative occurs in the Book of Genesis and concerns Noah's drunkenness and the accompanying shameful act perpetrated by his son Ham the father of Canaan (Gen. 9:20–27). The controversies raised by this story regarding the nature of Ham's transgression, and the question of why Noah cursed Canaan when Ham had sinned, have been debated for over two thousand years. The story's original objective was to justify the subjection of the Canaanites to the Israelites, but in later centuries, the narrative was interpreted by some Jews, Christians and Muslims as a curse of, and explanation for, black skin. Nevertheless, many Christian denominations strongly disagree with such interpretation due to the fact that in the original biblical text, Ham himself is not cursed and race or skin color is never mentioned, and therefore, out of context in the story of Genesis 9.