I know lots of Jews and Greeks and Iranians. If I was asked if they were black or white, I would pick white. I’m pretty sure that was Kelly’s point.
I think that's all she meant as well. Sure, it's not important how swarthy these people were; but outright black is unlikely. I had a black teacher in high school in the 70's who was a black power type and was a believer in Jesus being black. He also included Cleopatra and Hannibal as black.
Indeed, I think this is the point that many on here are missing.
Both Jesus and Saint Nicholas were white, i.e. Caucasian.
Skin color, however tanned by the sun around the Mediterranean Basin, is only part of the equation on what makes a person white or black.
The Caucasian world, both then and now, not only includes the entire Middle East, but North Africa, Turkey, the Caucus Mountains, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and most of the Indian Subcontinent. Yes, some of these peoples’ skin tones are dark, almost as dark or darker, in some cases, than sub-Saharan Africans. However, genetically, they are ‘white’.