Cleopatra VII Thea Philopator (Koine Greek: Κλεοπάτρα Θεά Φιλοπάτωρ) was a member of the Ptolemaic dynasty — which was an ancient Macedonian Greek house.
Based on historical evidence (coins, busts, paintings, texts), it is assumed that she was white (olive skin), had a prominent hooked nose, a strong chin and deep-set dark eyes.
[Cleopatra and Caesar in better times.]
As for you African-American suggestion: the only people living in North America around the time Cleopatra lived were Native Americans (such as ancient Cherokee in the Woodland period) — no black people at all, and certainly no African-Americans.
And just to be clear: the rumor that Julius Caesar was Chinese is false as well —
Just saying.
SOURCES: first painting by Frank Frazetta (Egyptian Queen, Eerie Magazine #23, 1969). For the sculpture (Roman artwork, mid-1st century BC): Altes Museum in Berlin. Second painting by Clara Grosch (Portrait of Julius Caesar, 1892).
