SatoshiBanks :
The Jews who left Spain in 1492 were Moorish Jews. They were Moors—Black people whose statues can still be found throughout Europe. These Moorish Jews fled into Africa and were later enslaved and transported in the transatlantic slave trade. Today, their descendants—many Black people across America, South America, and the Caribbean—are part of the African diaspora formed by slavery.
Historically, Moorish identity in European art and writing—from antiquity through the Renaissance and the early modern period—was strongly associated with Blackness. Over time, the term “Moor” expanded to mean any Muslim from North Africa, but its origins are rooted in describing the dark-skinned, African peoples of the Maghreb. Ancient texts and artwork describe early Maghreb populations, including the Garamantes, Numidians, and Berbers, as dark-skinned with features now commonly associated with Black Africans. The etymology of “Moor” confirms that for centuries in Europe, it referred specifically to Black or very dark-skinned people from North Africa.
That region experienced centuries of migrations and mixing due to Roman, Arab, and later European influence. While today’s North Africans display a broad range of skin tones and genetic backgrounds, the earliest known populations would now be called “Black.” North African Jews, especially before the large influx of Sephardic exiles, would have closely resembled their Berber and Saharan neighbors—dark-skinned, African, and distinct from Arabs and later European settlers
2026-06-27 16:10:44