Yes, Othello should be played as a North African. Edwin Booth, the greatest 19th century American actor, played him as an Arab and was fairly successful (better as Iago!) I think Paul Robson and Olivier’s portrait of him as practically an African-American with a serious weight problem has influenced actors in the 20th and 21 centuries...
Talking to my actor-husband, he said all actors playing Othello must now be born black, not born Arab or anything else. He speaks not as a politically-correct person but as a actor/producer who would sadly not touch Othello today.
Shakespeare, himself, had Othello as an Arab/Berber. It's in his own description of the character, which is extant. And then there's Holzlnecht's definitive book, which was a required book in my college class on Shakespeare's work. <
The earliest depictions of Othello, in print or painting, I have seen are from 1709. It doesn't show the actor as a Negro. A 1776 print of David Garrick as the Shakespearean characters he performed is also devoid of Negritude. And a photo, taken in 1912, of H. Beerbohm Tree as Othello, shows him in armor...which would be correct for the character!
I agree with your husband...I wouldn't put on OTHELLO, today, if my life depended upon it; wouldn't touch MERCHANT OF VENICE with a barge pole either! Shame, because both are great plays , but the controversy is too much to handle. :-(
Moors were Berbers, Middle Eastern and not black African, although ‘Moors’ was later used to mean Muslims such as from Spain. Othello might have been conceived as Spanish, but Muslim!