Vampires existed in 19th-century New Orleans, but not in the Twilight sense, according to one ASU professor.

Jewell Parker Rhodes, the Piper Endowed Chair at ASU’s Virginia G. Piper Center for Creative Writing and an author of five novels, lectured on racism, African vampires and culture, and Marie Laveau Thursday night at ASU’s Downtown campus.

The vampires Rhodes spoke about refer to colonists and others draining the culture of the Africans, who they brought to America, and the misconceptions surrounding the voodoo religion.

“[Africans] were really talking about a cultural oppressor who was going to drain [their] cultural identity, so it was really rooted in race,” Rhodes said.

The slave owners and colonists labeled the voodoo religion as primitive and barbaric, linking it to witchcraft, since it included blood sacrifices, she said.

The lecture topics are linked to her novel series, since it explores the voodoo religion, African culture and the history of Marie Laveau, a “voodoo queen” and priestess from New Orleans.

The lecture kicks off the spring 2010 Humanities Lecture Series, which is held in at the Downtown campus.

Rhodes said she found a role model in Marie Laveau, and her series delves into the life of the legend and her fictional descendant.

Marie Laveau was a powerful and influential woman of color in her community, Rhodes said, which was unusual because most African-American women were poor slaves or mistresses.

Rhodes wanted to learn more about how Laveau achieved her success, she said.

“I think what I was searching for was a role model who stood up against the things that you ‘supposedly can’t do’ and triumphed and still ended up achieving her dreams anyway,” she said.

In a racist and sexist time, Rhodes said if Laveau could achieve her dreams, then she can as well.

Though the colonists misinterpreted the voodoo religion, those who practiced the religion, like Laveau, used the misunderstanding to their advantage at times.

“When she saw that her oppressors … were fearful of the religion [and] of the practicing of the faith, she … encouraged their fears,” Rhodes said.

This was more of a survival mechanism, she said, to fight against oppression.

Rhodes said her next two novels will be coming out this year. One is the fourth novel in the voodoo series, “Hurricane Levee Blues,” and the other is a children’s novel, “Ninth Ward.”

Both novels will have a focus on the effect of Hurricane Katrina on the African-American people in Louisiana.

Since the earthquake in Haiti, Rhodes has been considering writing another novel about the environmental and colonial racism as it applies to Haiti but has no official plans at this point.

Mirna Lattouf, an ASU lecturer and coordinator of the Humanities Lecture Series, said she wanted a diverse lecture series and Rhodes is a distinguished African-American writer.

She also is getting the book “Yellow Moon” signed, which is part of the voodoo series.

“We forget how diverse African-American cultures within American society are,” Lattouf said.

Priscilla Lopez, a broadcast journalism sophomore, said she came to the lecture to earn class credit.

“I gained a whole different perspective,” Lopez said. “I had no idea that voodoo was even considered their faith until now.”

She only knew about the voodoo that is present in Hollywood films like The Skeleton Key.

“I thought [voodoo] was just witchcraft stuff like she said, like something to do with Satan,” Lopez said.

Reach the reporter at reweaver@asu.edu