Is Socrates Black

Answer 1

He was most likely Greek, as his parents were Althenian citizens, and Althenian citizenship was unlikely to be bestowed upon foreigners. There is also no indication of him being different from his fellow citizens in the writings of his contemporaries, who would have seized upon such an opportunity were it available. There are busts depicting Socrates with a slightly wider nose then his Greek counterparts, but wide noses are not a singular African trait (consider 'cherubic' features).

It is important to note that the claim of Socrates being a black man is a tenant of Afrocentrism, which espouses that classical philosophic and cultural advancements were achievements of what we would now consider 'Africans' and the Egyptians, and that these achievements were plundered and stolen by the Greeks and later the Europeans. This is a theory that has not withstood any peer scrutiny, and is only clung to by fringe groups.