Are the moroccan people African or Arab?

Answer 1

Answer 1

The Moroccans are technically African but many are Arab, Berber, Gnawa, Haratin, Morisco and of French or Spanish lineage.

Answer 2

It is first worth clarifying what is meant by the terms "African" and "Arab". If the term "African" is understood to refer to people with Black Skin, then Moroccans are not Africans. Conversely, if the term "Arab" is understood to refer to people from the Arabian Peninsula and their descendants, then Moroccans are not Arabs. In truth, Moroccans are predominantly indigenous to the area of Morocco, which is part of Africa and the Arab World. Conversely, Moroccans are Africans in the sense that they are from the continent of Africa and they are Arabs in the sense that they associate themselves with Arab identity and use Arabic dialects to communicate and have done so since the Islamic Conquests in 680 C.E.

The distinguishing of Moroccans between Arabs and Amazigh (also incorrectly called Berbers or Moors) is a linguistic difference, i.e. what is your mother tongue, not a genetic or ethnic difference. Arabs have historically been those in power in the larger cities and Amazigh have been fiercely independent in the mountains. However, the populations freely moved between Arab polities and Amazigh villages, keeping the population of Morocco largely ethnically homogenous.