I liked what this had to say and I think it's right to point out that calling Jesus "black" has radical political connotations. I've always thought it was weird that some people like to say that Jesus was black, as if the country attributed to the life of Jesus were somehow African and not Asian. Of course, say Asian and people think Chinese. Whatever.

I don't know if you've read Lamb by Christopher Moore, but it's a really funny and at times poignant book. I am not religious, though I was raised in a strict Catholic household, but it's always struck me that those that are the most vocal about Jesus are those that aim to make him more than a man. Maybe it's the Catholic upbringing, but I have always been under the impression that the biblical God's point of creating Jesus is so that God could understand what it is to be human.

Moore's book centers on that human aspect, viewed through the eyes of a fictional best friend. It also drives home the point that many of our problems with other people and other peoples is that we spend an inordinate time as a species dedicated to dehumanizing people, whether it be by elevation or denigration and that is why so many prophets and holy men have preached empathy, understanding and forgiveness.

I guess this is what happens when an intelligent species develops sight generally focused outwardly instead of inwardly as well.