If you are of Mexican descent, you probably do. The thing is, you don’t have to go as far back as you would think to find a common royal ancestor that is ancestor to everyone in a certain land mass area.

If you want to know what the make-up looked like, google “Fayum Mummy” and you’ll get some pretty realistic depictions of Roman-era Egyptians, their hair-styles, and what make-up they wore. Generally, they loved to play up the eyes. So heavy on the kohl and eyeliner.

Everybody has a right to care about anything, regardless of whether or not they have a tangible or intangible connection to whatever that thing is.

So, my point is simple: if you’re upset at a relatively dark-skinned actress playing Cleopatra, explain why in a manner that doesn’t include a reference to the modern conception of race (as it wouldn’t have existed 2100 years ago). Or, to be more clear, explain why in a manner that doesn’t revert to an ethnic or…

And there were legitimate Sub-Saharb African cultures that people can look back at and be proud of- the Kingdom of Mali was once the richest kingdom on Earth. King Mansa Musa took so much gold with him on his pilgrimage to Mecca that he destroyed economies on the way by giving it out in huge amounts and causing…

Yeah, the more she talks, the more the whole prpject feels like a hagiography, not a documentary.

We are the descendants of powerful kings and queens.” Kings and queens suck.

Yep.  Being Catholic was such a hard no no in the 19th century.  It feels so weird now but it was a foundational aspect of the Klan.  The Know Nothing party was the original Tea Party and fighting the Pope was a key tenant.  Thaddius Stevens the famous abolitionist senator, he tried to remove several union generals…

In a lot of places Irish people weren’t considered white either ...and we are so pale we basically combust in sunlight like vampires!!

Exactly this. In debates over Cleopatra was white, we miss the fact that lots and lots of Americans of British origin wouldn’t, in 1910, have called Greeks OR Italians white, and probably not the Irish or Slavs either. To consider the Jews white would seem ridiculous to lots of people until about halfway through the…

Thank god. Cleopatra was the inbred descendant of colonizers that very likely murdered her brother, lived in unimaginable luxury while her people were largely in misery and was directly responsible for leading her country into a war in which thousands died. Why the hell does anyone see that resume and *want* to…

A lot of the tendencies of Afrocentric history really bug me. I can completely understand why a group that has always been told “You are a group of savages, with basically no culture,” will come back with, “We come from cultures just as sophisticated as any other, with their own histories,” but I wish there wasn’t so…

In that case, should it even be a matter of such fierce debate if one Black actor portrays Cleopatra after a string of white ones?

I think that Cleopatra throughout the decades probably would have been portrayed by a string of actresses of European genetic origin even if historians thought that she was not, but the makers of these previous films stumbled upon what is most likely the correct answer, but for the wrong reason. The people casting…

Just to point out the very obvious thing that this article completely sidesteps:

I must also stress that terms like white and black really wouldn't mean much in Cleopatras time.  Not saying discrimination wasn't a thing but this line in the sand of what is or isn't "white" is a lot more recent way of thinking.  I mean Italians weren't considered white until the 20th century for godsake. 

“Cleopatra was eight generations away from these Ptolemaic ancestors, making the chance of her being white somewhat unlikely.”

Hey look, Amir’s an Egyption who probably just doesn’t know what’s best for him.  He needs a civilized person to guide him.  You know, to sort of lift him out of barbarism or whatever...

In that case, should it even be a matter of such fierce debate if one Black actor portrays Cleopatra after a string of white ones?

She expresses a desire to get her portrayal of the ancient ruler “right” where previous depictions of the queen “had gotten it so incredibly wrong.”