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Black Connotes Power, Privilege, Wisdom, and Sex—White Connotes Ignorance, Coldness, and Death
When anti-racists say white is associated with good things and black with bad ones, I wonder how they fail to see that all colors have good and bad connotations. Their belief that some color connotations affect the way humans see each other comes from discredited ideas about the power of language.
When the rich dress to impress, they wear black suits and dresses. Because wealth is associated with power and knowledge, judges, scholars, and priests wear black gowns. And because knowledge is associated with sex, people who want to be sexy wear black tuxedoes, gowns, little dresses, and lingerie.
Black is the color of the richest earth.
Black gold is a name for oil wealth.
To be “in the black” is the accountant’s term for making a profit.
Black is the color of night, so it is a color of mystery that is loved by people who want to be seen as social rebels.
In contrast, white is the color of beginners and skeletons. It is the color of ignorance, sterility, and death. It is the color of cold, emptiness, and waste. It is the color of boredom.
To whitewash is the act of hypocrites and liars.
