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Initially this curse would be fulfilled on the Canaanites who later inhabited Palestine because we will see that later in the bible that the Israelites go in and conquer the land of the Canaanites. If the curse is fulfilled on the Canaanites, then that surely that solves one of the people who say this represents a curse on one particular race or nation today. This is not a curse on a race, it is a curse on the descendants of a family line, one tribe who are themselves descendants of a race. So, there is no way this is a curse on one particular race as one of the major religious cults used to claim. It's on the descendants of Canaan and the curse is that they shall be servants of servants the lowest of servants. One commentator I read addressed any false teaching around this passage by saying this. I think this was most interesting quote[i].

Until the middle of the 19th century when the slave trade was at its height no-one ever imagined that Ham represented the father of the black race.

As always throughout history men will twist the scriptures to justify their sinful behavior. This curse does not apply to any one race today, it applies to the Canaanites who were a tribe of people who inhabited Palestine at that time. But there's more to the passage an interesting twist occurs, look at verse 26

He also said, “Praise be to the Lord, the God of Shem! May Canaan be the slave of Shem. (Gen 9: 26)

We're going to go from a curse to a blessing. Blessed will be the descendants of Shem who will have Ham’s descendants as their servants. You see although Ham was the father of the Canaanites. Shem was the forefather of the Jewish people. Shem’s descendants were the Jewish nation. We will get into that in more detail in chapter 10. Again, we are being given the seeds of something that's going to blossom later. The blessing will be that one day the Canaanites will be subservient to the Israelites and that how God will blesse Shem. 

27 May God extend Japheth’s territory; may Japheth live in the tents of Shem, and may Canaan be the slave of Japheth.” (Gen 9: 27)

God will enlarge the family line of Japheth and it will be fulfilled in the growth and spread of the descendants of Jacob. To live in the tent of someone implies the sharing of hospitality and sharing blessings between the two other brothers. To share one’s tent is to share spiritual blessings of the knowledge of God. The descendants of the Jewish nation, they were the ones given the word of God and they in turn were to give it to the other tribes and nations and ultimately the world. The gentiles [the nations] will be blessed if they respond to it. This is what's important here, this is what the chapter is all about. There is a curse, but there is also a blessing and those with the blessing are supposed to bless others with that blessing.

The Cardinal truth of the scripture is that God curses sin, and He blesses those that are obedient and those he blesses are called to bless others. The passage closes by telling us.

28 After the flood Noah lived 350 years. 29 Noah lived a total of 950 years, and then he died (Gen 9: 28-29)

This repeats the pattern that we saw in chapter 5 and closes the chapter 

I want to close by making a couple of observations so bear with me for a minute. Number one; this passage does not teach that there's a curse on black people Have I made that clear? There's no doubt that there were people and probably still are some people who believed that this is talking about a curse on black people, but it is not. I believe such people are categorically wrong. The curse was fulfilled upon the Canaanites who inhabited Palestine when Israel conquered their land. The Ryrie study Bible has a comment about this that really puts this in perspective, and I believe deals with this false teaching once and for all.

The Canaanites long ago experienced the fulfillment of the curse therefore it cannot apply to any body of people today[ii].

For me that settles the issue. Alright then if it doesn’t apply to a racial group in what way does this curse apply today, what is it meaning or relevance for us here today

We shall find out next time.

[i] Ryrie Study Bible (Introduction to Genesis Ch 9)
[ii] Ryrie Study Bible (Genesis 9: 26-27)