We really don't know what race Jesus bore the appearances of, however, in all likeliness he was of darker skin color and most certainly was Jewish.
Artists only depicted him like this because of where they lived.
This is evident because ancient Chinese Gnostics had depictions of Jesus as a more Asian looking person, while the many ancient Ethiopian Christian icons depicted Jesus with quite African features.
The only reason most art depicts him as white is because most Christians throughout history were European.
