Black

In many ways, it is unfortunate that the colour black has so many cheerless, negative connotations despite women who put their perpetuating faith in the little black dress that never lets them down and black tie events where men perform a mass impersonation of a penguin colony. It remains a fact that since time immemorial, black is the colour of darkness, night, dirt, and death whereas white is the colour of cleanliness and purity. Research amongst children of all race groups confirms that most children choose the white box in preference to the black one, when told that both boxes contain presents for them. If we do not like somebody, we might give them ‘black looks’. To ‘blacken someone’s name’ is to tarnish their reputation. We might also put a ‘black mark’ against them or put them on a ‘blacklist’ or in a ‘black book’. Witchcraft and sorcery are known as the ‘black arts’ and so on. Thus, it is hardly surprising that over the years the underlying symbolism behind the colours black and white have given rise to varying degrees of prejudice. Most of the foregoing uses of the word black are several hundreds of years old.