Having recently read 'The White Nile' written by Alan Moorehead, published in the UK in 1960, I was reminded of Tippu Tib:
His mother, Bint Habib bin Bushir, was a Muscat Arab of the ruling class. His father and paternal grandfather were coastal Swahili who had taken part in the earliest trading expeditions to the interior. His paternal great-grandmother, wife of Rajab bin Mohammed bin Said el Murgebi was the daughter of Juma bin Mohammed el Nebhani, a member of a respected Muscat (Oman) family, and an African woman from the village of Mbwa Maji, a small village south of the then German capital of Dar es Salaam.
I was surprised to find an image of Tippu Tib on the web. What might he represent? An African-Arab or an Arab-African?
A black African with some Arab blood.
There are millions of people who read, write and (if pushed) speak Classical Arabic so that they can read and study the Koran.
Speaking modern Arabic as your first language is the sort of thing that would define you as an Arab.
On the other hand, being a member of the Luo tribe definitely defines you as a Luo.
As in America there are mixed race people.
BTW, Arabs are, of course, "white folks" in case you didn't catch the references.