Physical blackness was seen as contradicting Egyptian national identity.
Evidence
Imäm (may God have mercy upon him) was a Negro in every sense of the word [käna zanjiyan bi man
at al-kalima], as they say, if not for the fluency of his language and the fact that he had been born and raised in Egypt. The morals of its people were native to him; he followed their customs and their livelihoods. He had thick nostrils, a flat nose, red pupils, and flexible muscles, peppery hair. As for the color of his skin, it was as black as the darkest gloom. — <cite>Eve M. Troutt Powell, A Different Shade of Colonialism_…, 788</cite> (#corroborates`, via linked claim)
Categorization
Category: Factual Claims
Related
- Egyptians conflated Nubian, Sudanese, and Ethiopian identities in racial terms (similarity 0.80)
- In Egypt, blackness contradicted claims to indigenous identity despite cultural fluency (similarity 0.80)
- Egyptians read black skin as contradicting cultural and linguistic Egyptianness (similarity 0.79)
- Egyptian identity was tied to Arabic fluency, which black slaves lacked. (similarity 0.79)
Broader Connections
- Egyptians read black skin as contradicting cultural and linguistic Egyptianness
#corroborates(0.95) — Eve M. Troutt Powell, A Different Shade of Colonialism_…, 788