Was Saint Augustine black?

[Michie]

For Romans, citizenship was more important than ethnicity.

The great and good Mary Beard has recently upset a few people on Twitter by bringing up the topic of ethnic diversity of the Roman Empire, a subject about which she knows a great deal. She writes about the experience here. Roman Britain in Black and White – TheTLS

...in the Roman Empire what counted was romanitas, not ethnicity. The early Christians were undoubtedly perceived as a threat to the former, not the latter. And it tells us that Saint Augustine may have looked like your average Italian today, but quite possibly did not.

Continued below.
Was St Augustine black? | CatholicHerald.co.uk

 

[Davidnic]

When I was in high school the Madonna like a prayer video was made. There was a discussion about it in class because of the Catholic imagery and the opinions of misuse and our Sacraments teacher said that it seemed very likely that St. Augustine (given some of the imagery and the clothing color choices of the statues) was the African Saint whose statue was in the video.

Many students were confused because they had never thought of that before.

Then we talked about the fact that...like this article says; the Romans cared about citizens not ethnicity. So a perfect historical physical description would not have been handed down. And even skin color would not have been mentioned because it did not matter. And there is some old iconography that has him with very dark skin tones.

 

[Anto9us]

who wants to know?

 

[Root of Jesse]

All I know is that I don't care. I know he was from Northern Africa, that his father was a Berber. He was probably dark skinned.

 

[Michie]

Well you guys cared enough to post. That's something.

 

[Sword of the Lord]

He and Jesus both were definitely Korean.

 

[Michie]

"Some of the best known people of antiquity are Christians. Foremost of of them is the inventer of autobiography, Aurelius Augustinus, whom we call Saint Augustine. He was born in Thagaste, North Africa, in present day Algeria. He was a thorough Roman, and we have no idea at all about his personal appearance. All the pictures and statues we have of him tell us what various artists thought what he ought to look like, not what he actually did look like. However, his mother was called Monica, or as some scholars render it, Monnica. Assuming she too was a native of Thagaste, and given the clue in her name, it is assumed by many that Monica was of Berber origin. (The Berbers worshiped a god called Mon.) Thus led some to see Saint Monica as a black saint. It has led others to discuss what Augustine may have looked like. But one thing is for sure: this would have been a discussion that Monica and Augustine themselves would never have had: they were Roman, and that was that."

 

[Sword of the Lord]

"It has led others to discuss what Augustine may have looked like. But one thing is for sure: this would have been a discussion that Monica and Augustine themselves would never have had: they were Roman, and that was that."

It's a shame that America can't be like this. People should stop acting foolish and just be Americans. But no, we have white supremacists and black terror groups stealing our headlines and everything is all about race.

 

[Root of Jesse]

Well you guys cared enough to post. That's something.

What's amazing to me in this day is that people still worry about race. We all are racists, because we are wary of people who are different than we are. We all discriminate because we don't make everyone our best friend. What we aren't is folks who care enough to build separate restrooms, to subjugate people because of their color. In fact, I don't even know that the slave trade had anything to do with race. It had to do with African warlords selling their war captives to people who needed labor.

The fact is that the US eliminated slavery less than 100 years after we became a country, and stopped discriminatory practices (by law) a hundred years later.

 

[Michie]

Absolutely. But I really think people are truly enjoying this. I read Archbishop Chaput's column yesterday and I think he nailed it. People like being angry. And instead of finding their identity by the content of their character they look to a pack to run with and find it in their politics and soundbites by the ideologues on TV and social media. Being truly independent and speaking outside the narrative makes you evil.

It's a shame that America can't be like this. People should stop acting foolish and just be Americans. But no, we have white supremacists and black terror groups stealing our headlines and everything is all about race.

 

[Michie]

All Nations have ugly history. All people do. When people rioting in the streets are called peace activists it only seems natural that people want to whitewash history instead of learn from it. Commonsense and reality is no longer something some people have the patience to deal with.

What's amazing to me in this day is that people still worry about race. We all are racists, because we are wary of people who are different than we are. We all discriminate because we don't make everyone our best friend. What we aren't is folks who care enough to build separate restrooms, to subjugate people because of their color. In fact, I don't even know that the slave trade had anything to do with race. It had to do with African warlords selling their war captives to people who needed labor.

The fact is that the US eliminated slavery less than 100 years after we became a country, and stopped discriminatory practices (by law) a hundred years later.

 

[LivingWordUnity]

It's a shame that America can't be like this. People should stop acting foolish and just be Americans. But no, we have white supremacists and black terror groups stealing our headlines and everything is all about race.

The media is always throwing gasoline on the fire of racial tensions to keep it going.

 

[Rhamiel]

The berbers are more Mediterranean
Also at that time there was probably more of a genetic influence of Carthage being a Phonetician colony
As time went on with the Arab invasion and migration of blacks northward you see North Africans getting darker

It is possible he was black
Also possible he was a redhead with fair skin