[Shanelle]

The people in the West that say the Egyptians are white are racists. There are a lot of white supremacists that leech on to the fact Egyptians have caucasian features just so they can claim whites created everything.

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Name : Shanelle, Gender : F, Race : Black/African American, Age : 34, City : Detroit, State : MI Country : United States, 

[Dan27308]

Here is an uneducated, possibly wrong answer that comes from my own observations. In America, African-Americans have associated themselves with the Ancient Egyptians culturally and sometimes spiritually for quite some time. Langston Hughes' poem (forgot title and year) alludes to both the black man building his hut by the river and building the pyramids at Giza. Certain Black musicians make use of ankhs, heiroglyphs and other Egyptian symbols and imagery. On the flipside, certain controversial and/or extreme figures such as Louis Farrakhan and the Nariwoobians of Georgia use Egypt heavily in their rhetoric. Also, certain outspoken civil rights activists and others who aren't exactly palatable to most white folks also make use of Egypt when speaking of Black people. Perhaps certain whites/westerners are intimidated by Black people claiming roots in the Ancient Egyptian Civilzation because it makes them feel that Black people are better than they thought, or that Blacks are trying to claim equality with the ancient Eurocivilizations of Rome and Greece which those of European descent place much value and pride upon.

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Name : Dan27308, Gender : M, Race : Hispanic/Latino (may be any race), Religion : Pentecostal, Age : 21, City : L.A. area, State : CA Country : United States, Occupation : Student, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Lower middle class, 

[Ahmed]

Why do people in the West try to say that Egypt is not black? The ancient Egyptians originated from the land of Punt, i.e Somalia, and Somalis are not white, but are black Africans. We have Caucasian or Mediterranean features identical to the Nubians, as we have the same origins, while Egyptians are more mixed than Somalis and Nubians and have more Sub-Saharan African mixture than Somalis and Nubians. I think it is stupid to look just at color, as today's Egyptians are so mixed in their constitution, i.e they have West African, Sudanese, Libyan, Syrian, Ethiopian, Somali and Arab mixtures in their make-up.

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Name : Ahmed, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Somali, Religion : Muslim, Age : 36, City : Cardiff, State : NA Country : United Kingdom, Occupation : Chemist, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[Erica]

I would say that modern day egyptians are a good part 'black'(try not to confuse color with caucasoid and negroid). The ancient egyptians were quite caucasian in features and in skin color, though. A lot of racist and anthropologists claim that the 'darkening' of the egyptians is how they went from the most advanced civilization of it's age to a poor 3rd world nation. This same 'darkening' is said to have destroyed Portugal in a similar way.

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Name : Erica, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : American Indian, Religion : Atheist, Age : 25, City : Madison, State : WI Country : United States, Occupation : Student, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[Endee]

I suppose the ancient Egypt was such a great nation that some whites have tried to 'whitewash' Egyptian history in order to claim it as their own. Even Jesus Christ, his legacy is so large and commands so much respect and attention that they have tried to whitewash that too. Jesus is often portrayed as being pale-skinned (even blond and blue-eyed sometimes). This white racial profile does not suit the ancient Jewish people, of whose stock Jesus was born. Yes, we know that ancient Egypt was black but some people always try to put down black people. And since those people can't deny that Egypt was an advanced and powerful civilization, they try to deny that Egyptians were black. Sadly, it's all about racial supremacy, a scourge this world can do without.

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Name : Endee, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Afro-Caribbean, Religion : Christian, Age : 28, City : Washington, State : DC Country : United States, Occupation : writer, Education level : Technical School, Social class : Lower middle class, 

[Carlton-B19248]

Based on ancient Egyptian artwork, I don't think their color is really much of a question. They didn't draw themselves as black. Is it important to you that we consider the ancient Egyptians to be black? I wonder, considering that you say it's stupid to look just at color. My counter-question would be why do so many black people insist that ancient Egypt is black? However, this would be no more honest than your question, since I already know that many black people want to believe they were descended from the great civilization that built the pyramids. I think this is insane. The Egyptians didn't build the pyramids, they made their Jewish slaves build them. Is slave ownership a history that you want to claim?

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Name : Carlton-B19248, Gender : M, City : Atlanta, State : GA Country : United States, 

[Colleen32007]

Predjudice is the simple amswer. I'd say the idea is a leftover from colonial and pre-colonial times. Slaves were taken by imperialists mostly from sub-sahren west africa; one of the excuses Europeans used to justify slavery was that black people were uncivilized savages. Egypt is home to one of the most ancient civilizations in the world; therefore the people who created that civilization and their modern day descendents could not be black. Remnants of this idea still persist. In addition, most westerners consider Egypt to be Middle Eastern/Arabic in its character rather than African; the steryotypical images associated with Egypt are Arabian steryotypes - desert nomads, camels, mosques. Most Westerners wouldn't call Morroccans or Lybians black either.

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Name : Colleen32007, Gender : F, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 21, City : NYC, State : NY Country : United States, 

[Karim]

To the somali gentleman: The ancient Egyptians were portrayed as lighter skinned than the Nubians and darker than the sea people. This suggest a Hamito-Semitic stock pretty similar to modern Egyptians, who are definitely not black! Moreover Egyptian is a nationality rather than a race, the concept of a nation is what set Egypt appart from the surrounding backward tribes. Now for the land of Pont, as far as I know the only relation Egypt had with it was the Hatshepsut expedition in the New Kingdom. Pont was described as a strange and alien nation not related to Egypt, but (to your pride) it was also described as a land of remarkably civilised people and great wealth. To the Jewish lady: The pyramids were built early in the old kingdom (6th dynasty), Hebrews came to Egypt with the Hyksos by the end of the middle kingdom and left (according to your old testament) by the 22nd dynasty. So if they built the pyramids they had to have a time machine! The architect of the pyramids was Imhotep and the workers' town was lately excavated and found very typically Egyptian. I don't know why people readily believe the pyramids were built by Martians, Atlantans, Semites, or the queen of Sheva rather than believe the obvious!

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Name : Karim, Gender : M, Age : 23, City : Los Angeles, State : CA Country : United States, Social class : Middle class, 

[Carol]

Actually, Ancient Egyptian artwork does show they were black. They came in the same shades of brown that black people come in today. You don't have to be incredibly dark to be black. People aren't just saying they were black to say it. Also, it wasn't just the Israelites who built the pyramids. Everyone that was below the Pharoah and the preists payed their taxes in labor and goods. That labor was on the pyramids and keeping the roads and buildings in order. Get you information straight. To answer the original question, the West has more recently been accepting that the Egyptians were black. They (in general) rejected that fact because it would go against that whole 'black people are unitelligent' theory.

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Name : Carol, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Seventh-Day Adventist, City : Rochester, State : NY Country : United States, Occupation : Student, Social class : Middle class, 

[Nigel]

Well to be honest, I dont really care what color Egyptians fall into; regardless of whether they were Black or White they did have an immensely advanced and wonderful civilization. regarding Somali features I would not say they are black; rather dark though like some hispanics and Indians. I have seen Egyptian and Somali women who could go for Italians or Greeks if you like at their facial features alone.

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Name : Nigel, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Methodist, Age : 28, City : Toronto, State : SC Country : Canada, Occupation : sales manager, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[Ptah]

The original Egyptians were dark skinned. When the Europeans(as usual),and Asians took over their country of course you are going to have Eguptians looking Romanized and Asian. The darker skinned Egyptians were then caste as slaves. Their are hieroglyphics that show dark egyptians from the land of Nubia. Why do you think they dont want tou to know the history behind the Sphinx? When the Romans invaded Egypt and overruled the government, the soldiers destroyed lots of the original history. They even broke the noses off of the Sphinxes to hide the original Nubian heritage. And another thing, if Egypt is so hot, how come they are always depicted as fair-skinned? Tainted HISTORY,thats why.

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Name : Ptah, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Age : 23, City : Brooklyn, State : NY Country : United States, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Lower class, 

[Geoff21646]

Because of political traditions, many people really expect all world populations to divide cleanly into the exact, distinct categories that arbitrarily have been frozen in place over time, as a type of ethnic shorthand. The challenge to this habit that is posed by populations from the Old World's central zone--i.e., the Middle East, including Egypt, other Saharan countries, the Arabian peninsula, so forth--is that they participate in elements from all of the world's traditional racial groupings. Therefore, Egyptian 'Blackness' or 'non-Blackness' largely depends on whether the observer in question happens to be a follower of the American slavery-era's 'one drop' school of thought that classifies as Black anyone with even a trace of tropical African genetic legacy. Otherwise, one might suggest that Egyptians and other Middle Easteners are best described racially as 'all-of-the-above.' Ethnolinguistically and culturally, native Egyptians are classified as Afro-Asiatic, as African as they are Semitic. It would be interesting to guess where a 1950s southern USA bus driver would have seated such customers; front or back of the vehicle . . .

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Name : Geoff21646, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Mysticism (non-organized religion), Age : 42, City : Minneapolis, State : MN Country : United States, Occupation : Information Consultant, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class, 

[Anippe]

Because we are NOT black. It's been proven, and supported by the highest standard of Egyptologists and Archaeologists. Take a look at an aniceint map do you know where Sumeria (later known as Mesopotamia, Babylon, then Persia, now Iraq and Iran)is? Notice its position in relation to Greece and Egypt? Think about it, when you come to your own conclusion I'll get back to you.

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Name : Anippe, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Egyptian, Religion : Muslim, City : Cairo, State : NA Country : Egypt, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper class, 

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