
The Black Hebrew Israelites are groups of African-Americans who believe that they are descendants of the ancient Israelites. The Black Hebrews emerged in the late 19th century and the early 20th century, from Kansas to New York City, with African-Americans and Caribbean immigrants joining the movement. By the 1980s, the population of Black Hebrews was between 25,000 and 40,000. The movement, which subscribed to black supremacism, believed that Jews were devilish impostors and that whites were evil personified and deserved only death or slavery.