The Controversy Surrounding Cleopatra's Ancestry and Cultural Identity.
Netflix's new docudrama series "Queen Cleopatra" has been criticized for its ahistorical depiction of the famed Egyptian monarch as dark-skinned. The series is presented as a docudrama, with interviews from purported scholars and historians who promote the idea that the last monarch of ancient Egypt was indeed black. One such classicist Netflix relied on is Shelley Haley, a professor at Hamilton College who specializes in viewing classics through the lens of black feminism and critical race theory. Her approach to defining Cleopatra as black slots into a broader agenda and was the subject of a New York Times piece titled "Fear of a Black Cleopatra."
