St. John's Portrayal Of Vaudoux?

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Recommended: Racism in America 1800 to 1930

The fantastical recounts of the so-called barbaric religion from the perspective of white males was certainly a captivating read. Both Forbes and St. John managed to take a complex and alluring religion and simplify it so that it could be digested by the horrified general “civilized” public. St. John’s portrayal of Vaudoux, or as it is known today as Voodoo, gave the religion a distinctly appalling feel through his descriptions of various instances of ritualistic sacrifices and cannibalism that came afterward. Coupled with his overt distaste for non-white Haitians his work is compelling for all the wrong reasons. Cannibalism is something that has never really crossed my mind before as anything other than morally and ethically wrong, I was surprised

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