The question of "who is white?" has been fiercely debated for centuries, with many groups now considered white being excluded in the past. This debate continues today, as seen in the controversy surrounding Netflix's casting of a black actor as Cleopatra in the series "Queen Cleopatra." The issues are complicated by attempts to impose contemporary notions of race and identity onto an ancient world with different perspectives.
Cleopatra, the last queen of the Ptolemaic dynasty, was an Egyptian ruler of Macedonian heritage, and her background possibly included Persian and black African ancestry. The idea of Cleopatra being black has a long history within African American thought, particularly in black nationalist and Afrocentric movements. It is rooted in the longing for a powerful black nation and the assertion that ancient Greece appropriated Egyptian culture. These claims have been debated, and the discussion has often been driven more by polemics than facts. However, the casting of a black actor as present-day sensibilities and the desire for representation than historical accuracy more influence Cleopatra.
While applying modern concepts of race to the ancient world is anachronistic, some argue that contemporary sensibilities can inform our perception of Cleopatra. The notion of the "one-drop rule" – where having a single black ancestor categorizes a person as black – is invoked to argue that Cleopatra, as a product of miscegenation, should be considered black. However, this interpretation reflects the confusion surrounding race and highlights the irony of using a rule created by racists to uplift African Americans.
On the other hand, projecting Cleopatra as white is equally problematic. Cleopatra was an Egyptian queen of Macedonian descent, but her idea of being "white" emerged from modern racial thinking. Ancient societies recognized color differences but did not categorize people in the same racial terms or assign social meanings to these distinctions. Even Euro-American thinkers like Benjamin Franklin would not have considered an Egyptian, Macedonian, or Greek of their time as white. The history of race is filled with contradictions and inconsistencies.
The controversy over casting Cleopatra as black has also elicited strong reactions in Egypt, with some arguing that it falsifies historical facts and erases Egyptian identity. These reactions reflect nationalist sentiments, anti-blackness, and a desire to differentiate the Arab world from sub-Saharan Africa. However, not all Egyptians share these views.
Ultimately, the casting of Cleopatra, regardless of the portrayal, is influenced by modern political desires and fantasies. The question of Cleopatra's race reveals more about our contemporary understanding of race and identity than it does about Cleopatra herself and her historical context.
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