This is the Hamilton paradigm: The story of espionage then as told by actors today. As you allude, only 2 Bond films since Dalton took over the role are adapted from Fleming books, so there isn't any need for fidelity to that source material. It's especially worthy if, like me, you buy into the notion that 'James Bond' is an alias.in 2020, a british secret agent who is also an epic poon hound could be either white or black, and there's also no continuity from Brosnan-to-Craig. So I do find this pushback to be sort of odd. Do we think skin color is identity or not? because if we're ascribing additional qualities inherently to your race, then this whole thread needs a redo.
In 2021, 'Britishness' is more central to the character than race or gender imo.