Blackness and Black Identity Asian-dominated Egyptians, even after black pharaohs had conquered northern Egypt. The issue of contention was the decision by the black pharaohs to encourage integration rather than drive out the foreigners, which was unpalatable to the black Egyptians ‘for whom the prospects of having their children come into the world with a colour distinctly different from their own was at once an insult to their watching ancestors and an offence to the Gods themselves.’9 The black Egyptians believed themselves to be the true Egyptians because of their black skin and because of their religious beliefs: ‘They were “Children of the Sun” blessed with blackness by the Sun God himself and thus protected from its fiery rays. They were his children. Their very blackness, therefore, was religious, a blessing and an honour.’10 Compare this ancient, black religious belief in blackness as a positive affirmation from the Divine, to the action by European Jews and Talmudists to present blackness as a curse for wrongdoing resulting in the enslavement of the black race. The ancient Egyptians saw that the arrival of the Afro-Asians brought with it a colour-hierarchy that sought to subordinate them, but they were so grounded in their identity as black Egyptians that they stood their ground and asserted their blackness as a symbol of pride. Whilst black skin was ‘a badge of honour’ for the ancient Egyptians, blackness should not be equated solely with dark skin among people of African descent but should be understood as a level of consciousness. However the term ‘black’ can sometimes be problematic for those with light skin. In her paper on black identity, Francoise Baylis draws attention to the dilemma posed for light skinned and mixed race individuals when it comes to blackness and black identity. She states:
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