Religious Racism
This website is home to two organizations founded to study and combat “religious racism”: the International Commission to Combat Religious Racism and the Working Group on Race, Justice, and Africana Religions. It is also an educational site with resources about “religious racism” and efforts to combat it.
What is religious racism?
Religious racism is a form of religious intolerance or discrimination that is rooted in racialized prejudices against a particular faith or faiths. The concept of religious racism comes from Brazil, where activists use the phrase “racismo religioso” to refer to discrimination against Afro-Brazilian religions such as Candomblé and Umbanda. Religious racism impacts many faiths across the globe; however, the ICCRR and the Working Group were both founded because of rampant discrimination against African and African diaspora religions.
Examples of Religious Racism
Legal
- Continued prohibition of religions (i.e. Obeah in the Caribbean)
- Court decisions declaring that some faiths do not meet the legal definition of “religions”
- Attempts to restrict or ban religious practices (i.e. drumming or the ritual slaughter of animals / animal sacrifice)
- Interference with the child custody rights
Discrimination
- Refusal of disaster aid and other funding to devotees
- Firing, demoting, refusing to hire people because of religious affiliation
- Refusing to allow religious attire in the workplace, schools, or public buildings
- Harassment of devotees in schools
Violence
- Destruction of places of worship
- Vandalism
- Physical assaults on priests and devotees
- Harassment or defamation (including online /social media)
- Police surveillance or police invasion of ceremonies and places of worship
International Commission to Combat Religious Racism
The International Commission to Combat Religious Racism was founded in 2019 to promote the study of “religious racism” and to coordinate efforts to combat “religious racism” across different parts of the world and different religious communities. The Commission has produced two important reports on religious racism and its leaders have guest edited an open access special journal issue about “Race, Religion, and Nationalism.”
Working Group on Race, Justice, and Africana Religions
The Working Group on Race, Justice, and Africana religions was founded in May 2023 in Salvador, Bahia (Brazil) by an international group of devotees of African diaspora religions. Recognizing that their communities were facing similar types of discrimination and violence, they formed a collective to identify and combat these issues. This permanent Working Group is similar to the ICCRR but focuses exclusively on Africana religions.
Our Projects
Learn more about the projects led by members of the ICCRR and the Working Group:
Documenting Religious Racism in Brazil
A data set, map visualization, and report on 500 cases of religious racism against Afro-Brazilian religions in Brazil since 2000.
Community Project to Prevent Discrimination and Violence Against Black and African Religions
A collaboration with and for community partners to demonstrate how Africana religions — especially African ancestral religions and African American Islam — are central to understanding anti-Black racism. The project aims to better understand the types of discrimination that devotees of Africana religions and Black Muslims experience in the 21st century and to develop solutions to help combat that discrimination.
Report on Religious Racism in North America
A report analyzing 50 cases of racially motivated attacks on places of worship and religious community centers in the United States and Canada. The report is designed to provide some insights about the patterns and statistics that can be observed from these cases.
Contact us
We’d love to hear from you! Email us at religiousracism@gmail.com or drop us a line below and we’ll do our best to get back to you within one business day.
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