History Is ReWritten By The Losers

It appears that the BBC, Netflix, Sky and other Anglo broadcasters are in a race ....

Netflix Cast Devin Terrell As King Arthur .....

 .... to rewrite British and European history and mythology, to fit current WOKE, PC UK and US racial politics. 

I say this because they have recently taken to creating what are called historical dramas (both Shakespearean, and so called historical 'true' dramas), with black sub-Saharan descent actors as UK/European medieval, or ancient mythical characters, for TV shows. So for example Netflix cast Devin Terrell as King Arthur in their soon to be forgotten 2019 TV series 'CURSED' (which about sums up the productions success).

Now I can't help noting that the use of white actors for any traditionally black African characters (whether fantastical, fictional, historical or not), is now roundly criticised as 'cultural appropriation,' and wrong, by black and woke activists. While not a peep is said when the reverse is done, and black African descent actors take white European roles. Why is that? Sheer bloody hypocrisy comes to mind.

Now as might be expected this trend hasn't gone unnoticed, but any complaint about it was immediately dismissed as 'racist' (the usual shout down, that is meant to cancel or silence those most easily cowed e.g. politicians), or if that hasn't shut down enough voices, then a compliant academic is wheeled out to make vaguely apologist, historical possible generalisations to support the castings (these often don't stand up to too much examination). 

For instance if you say that 'Africans' were stationed on Hadrian's Wall during Roman times, you would be largely correct. However that doesn't mean Black Africans from below the Saharan desert, or even Nubians from the Sudan. In fact in the Roman world 'Africa' was what is the coastal littoral of the now Arab nations of Morocco, Tunisia, Libya and Egypt, but which was then occupied by what we would now call Berber's and Ancient Egyptians (both non Arab races).

Roman Africa Was Not Sub-Saharan

Similarly, the ancient Greeks described all Africa south of Egypt (which after all was Greek ruled from 332 BC when Alexander the Great conquered it), as Aethiopia on the southern sea. Incidentally the word Makróbioi, (Lat. Macrobii) appears on many ancient maps which means 'Long-Livers', as it was believed that they, along with Indians, lived over 100 years. 

Whilst Herodotus omitted the 'Tin Isles,' aka Britain from his maps, as he didn't believe the stories of their existence (although other theories are proposed), although Pytheas of Massalia later circumnavigated Britain, around 325 BC.

Herodotus Described The World As Known in 430 BC

So when people make claims that they can justify placing actors of black sub-Saharan African descent as North European, Greek or Romans, in films and TV shows, via historical record, they are playing fast and lose with the real history of those times. Dark skinned Greek Mediterranean types would be OK, and possibly even someone of Berber heritage, but casting black sub-Saharan Africans, is making a PC, not historical, point.

As for replacing known European historical figures such as the French Princess and English Queen, Margaret of Anjou with black actresses, well that has no historical justification, and is simply playing race politics ... or put another way, is out and out cultural appropriation. 

Something which is a big No No when its whites doing the same thing, but seemingly is fine if done by blacks.

Henry VI of England And His Queen Margaret of Anjou  - Historical Images.

Therefore when Sheila Atim was cast as Margaret of Anjou, the French royal who was married to King Henry VI of England, in the Sky History drama 'The Royal Bastards: The Rise of The Tudors', which according to their blurb 'charts the true story of one of England’s most powerful and little-known women, Lady Margaret Beaufort, who navigated her way through one of the most turbulent and bloody periods in British history to secure her son as a successor to the [English] throne', it was claimed that it was perfectly OK by the usual lefties.

So I can only note that truth is not actually the aim of the casting, and that it can only have been done for its shock controversy effect. This actually follows another black actress, Sophie Okonedo, appearing in the BBC's Shakespearean adaptation 'The Hollow Crown', also as Margaret of Anjou, who was actually mother to the white Edward of Westminster, the Prince of Wales.

This of course wasn't the first BBC attempt to rewrite European culture, in favour of black African descent sensibilities. In an expensive epic about the fall of Troy to the Greeks, Troy fall of a city, they cast the Greek hero Achilles as British-Ghanaian actor David Gyasi, along with Hakeem Kae-Kazim as the Greek god Zeus.

Of course the BBC justifications for this are racial inclusivity ... but as we have already noted this inclusivity is rather a one way street. I have also seen some historically inaccurate attempts to justify these castings as being possibly true, or that for historical dramas there is artistic licence e.g. Even though Zeus was a Greek God, no one mentions him looking like a Greek, so therefore the arguments go, he could have been black (although probably wasn't).

Others such as Jimi Famurewa, admit that although Homer describes Achilles as having xanthē hair which is translated as 'fair hair', or perhaps more accurately 'golden hair' i.e. blonde, he also describes him as '10 foot tall', so obviously not a real description, therefore its OK to cast him as black. He also said that if a white Australian actor could play Paris of Troy (who he inaccurately describes as a Turkish character ... the Turks didn't invade Asia Minor until the 11th century AD - the Trojans were Greek related), that also is unjustifiable.

Another defender of these castings is Tim Whitmarsh, Professor of Greek Culture at the University of Cambridge, when asked about Greek hair/skin colours said:

“Our best estimate is that the Greeks would be a spectrum of hair colours and skin types in antiquity. I don’t think there’s any reason to doubt they were Mediterranean in skin type (lighter than some, and darker than other Europeans), with a fair amount of inter-mixing. Not only were the historical Greeks unlikely to be uniformly pale-skinned, but their world was also home to ‘Ethiopians’, a vague term for dark-skinned North Africans. They are mentioned in Aethiopis, the story after Homer’s Iliad (the epic poems retelling the battle of Troy), where Memnon of Ethiopia joins the fighting."

Now while correct its also a bit disingenuous. 

• Yes some Greeks were darker skinned than northern Europeans, others such as Alexander the Great were 'dark blonde' or even 'golden' haired, and fair to reddish skinned. 
• Yes they knew about dark skinned North Africans, and they also probably were aware of Ethiopians / Numidians (both names which likely covered the Sudanese kingdoms of the Kushites or the area now known as Ethiopia and the horn of Africa), as they later traded with them via Egypt. However they didn't live with them on a daily basis, and so their own Greek gods and heroes were not likely to be described as being of that nationality. 

Also the general dark skinned North Africans were at that time Berbers (think Zinedine Zidane) or Egyptians, as the Arab invasion wasn't until the 7th Century. The Roman Emperor Septimus Severus, who is often wrongly described as a 'Black Roman Emperor,' was from what is now Libya, and was also a Berber .... and not black sub-Saharan African, and as his official portrait clearly shows.    

Whitmarsh also falls into the Australian trap. “And that’s the real issue here: anyone who says it’s inauthentic to cast Achilles as black has to explain why it’s authentic to use an Australian actor [Louis Hunter, who plays Paris] speaking in English to represent an ancient Greek hero. That seems, to me, another powerful form of appropriation and an equally misleading depiction.”

Whoa there Professor Whitmarsh ... the Australian actor is of European descent, and well, as the program was for an English speaking audience, made by the BBC, it would be bloody stupid to have the characters speaking ancient Greek or Trojan (which was probably Greek as well), with English sub titles.

Then there is the fact that Homer describes Odysseus as 'dark-skinned'. Well in Greece that would merely indicate that he was deeply tanned, or from a more southerly part of Greece, rather than say Macedon, or Epirus .... the location of the Homeric island of Ithaca is still being debated, as the modern island of that name may not have been named so back then.

There is also the little matter of how Greeks felt about this black casting (not that the BBC's editors give a crap about Greek opinion, or British opinion for that matter, when they are actually aiming at black and white metropolitan London ... the only audience they still have). 

According to this web site, they were uniformly pissed off:

Marianna Lazarou: "Depicting our Gods and Heroes black? Seriously ? I thought that it was horrible and very offensive. Pretty much as an African would feel if a white European impersonated Saga Zulu , or Nelson Mandela. Or, as an African-American would feel if a white played Martin Luther King. How many sues and protests would BBC receive then?"  

Dimitra Triantaffyllidou: “Wow! This is extremely RACIST!!! And insulting to the intelligence of the audience”. Why? Simply because it is assuming that the audience will identify with the actor because he is black. And because it’s counting on the infamy to gather publicity. Bravo! Way to do the Classics!".

D K Dimitris: "Just proving that all those far-right theories and conspiracies about mainstream media pushing anti-white agenda might not be just conspiracy theories, but I am starting to believing them. Imagine a kid is watching the series, he would think that Greek heroes were black, then the same kid watched another show, or TV ad or music video, where always the guys are black and girls white. Imagine what is going on this kid's brain, and all other kids. Mainstream media seem to be pushing this agenda. If you speak up they call you racist. Imagine a series about African or black heroes and gods played by white actors". 

Haris Karagkiozis: "It ranges from ridiculous to outright offensive (and everything in between) depending on the person. Brits and Americans want to appeal to their SJW audiences by adding black actors in the roles of white characters. That is their right. We would like them however to leave our culture and heritage out of their propaganda please. I’ve talked with people from a great range of political views about this and they were all baffled to learn about this." 

Stratos Zachariadis: "This is the definition of racism. Would BBC use a white actor for the role let's say (for example)…. Shaka Zulu. NEVER, as they would be accused for racism 100%. But they did the opposite and they think it's different? I will never see these series even if i am very attracted from the concept. Their choice is not acceptable as it is completely offensive."

And so on ..... but did the BBC or Netflix care. No. Similarly do Sky History care about casting black actors as white European queens? No. 

The black washing of white UK and European history is now in full swing, with nary a word said against it. The lefts campaign of screaming racism at anyone who points out the hypocrisy, or historical inaccuracy of this sort of casting, has silenced everyone, and given them carte-blanche to rewrite the past.
 
We reap what we sow.