This is what it says in RESPONSA OF MODERN JUDAISM by Rabbi Sholom Klass zt"l, c 1992, Jewish Press:
"We are taught that Cush, who was descended from Ham, Noah's son, was black (Sanhedrin 108b).
The Gemara tells us: Three had relations in Noah's ark, the dog, the raven and his son Ham and they were punished. Ham was smitten in skin, from him descended Cush who was blackskinned (Sanh. 108b).
The Midrash narrates (Beresheis Rabba 36): Noah cursed Ham when he awoke from sleep (Gen. 9) and he said, "You now made me unable to do things in the dark, therefore you should become dark complexioned". Cush was descended from Ham.
The descendants of Cush spread throughout Africa. They formed many kingdoms such as Abyssinia, Ethiopia. The Jews are descendants of Noah's son, Shem, who was white, the opposite of Cush."
I wonder if this is why so many Jews historically had black housekeepers, servants, etc., and so do Arabs as well as White Europeans? A friend of mine from Tennessee, who is older than me and remembers the days before the civil rights mvmt, said that blacks seemed happiest when they were servants. So who knows? Maybe they are basherte for that?