Jesus the Black Icon

Yesterday's Guardian featured this article, the result of a poll in black newspaper New Nation:



Jesus the black icon tops list of greatest

Hugh Muir

He [Justin Onyeka, deputy editor] said many of the paper's readers would think of Jesus as having been black. "In the Bible he is described as dark skinned. Throughout history we have been presented with him having blonde hair and blue eyes, but that idea is not commonly believed.



"He never wrote a book, never recorded a hit song, never made a movie, never sought political office, nor did he ever have his own official website - yet he remains a major figure in the world's two leading religions."

I think he'll find that the Bible doesn't describe Jesus' appearance at all, but I am in favour of informed speculation on this.