That Old Black Magic

Differences between traditional European and African conceptions of witchcraft help explain the appeal of current theories like stereotype threat, implicit bias, and systemic racism.

From the Spanish news outlet OKDiario.com (translated by Google):

Massacre on a boat arriving in the Canary Islands: 72 immigrants killed after being accused of witchcraft

• The alleged murderers are distributed among shelters in the Canary Islands.

• Witnesses say they were accused of witchcraft and shot dead.

• The canoe left Africa with 320 people and 248 arrived in the Canary Islands.

Angel Moya @AngelMoyatv

01/09/2025 11:45 Updated: 02/09/2025 18:41

The National Police are investigating more than 20 illegal immigrants spread across several reception centers in the Canary Islands for the massacre of 72 fellow travelers on a cayuco boat that arrived in the islands on August 25 from the West African coast. During the hellish journey, the immigrants under investigation decided to get rid of dozens of fellow passengers, accused them of witchcraft, and killed 72 people before reaching Spain.

Witnesses say the immigrants under investigation, all young men, conspired to accuse dozens of fellow immigrants on the cayuco of witchcraft. According to witnesses, some were shot dead and others were thrown overboard before reaching the Canary Islands.

According to the investigation, the cayuco had become entangled en route to Spain and had been at sea for about 15 days when between 20 and 30 passengers, mostly young, overcame the rest in order to survive and decided to kill them. There were 320 people on the cayuco, and 248 arrived in the Canary Islands.

Initially, according to judicial sources, the victims were accused of committing petty theft during the voyage or depleting the water supply, but when this proved ineffective, they were accused of witchcraft and murdered in cold blood before their bodies were thrown overboard.

… National Police investigators are working to identify all the immigrants involved in the cayuco massacre. Between 20 and 30 young sub-Saharan Africans are believed to be in shelters in the Canary Islands.

White Americans don’t pay much attention to the cultural tendencies of sub-Saharan Africa, especially embarrassing ones like widespread African belief in witchcraft.

Nonetheless, African witchcraft is worth learning more about because it may have had some impact on influential postmodern intellectual theories, like implicit bias, stereotype threat, systemic racism, white privilege, and unconscious discrimination, that have become fashionable on American campuses as colleges tries to center the lived experience of black women academics more.

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