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Opinion And Analysis: Why The Black Colour Is Always Associated With The Negative Things?

Image: Sensational Colour

Mdunge Skhumbuzo


For many years, the black colour has been associated with many negative things.  Steve Biko once said, "Being black is not a matter of pigmentation - being black is a reflection of mental attitude.'' There are fabricated dialects that connotate the black colour as the representative of failure and bad luck.

Questions that relate to black colour being used to represent failure.


When the customer fails to pay his debts, the Credit Bureau refers to that customer as blacklisted. The question is, why did they choose to use black instead of using other colours like blue and maybe say the customer is blue listed? When the two friends play a pool game, why it must always be the white-ball that hits a black-ball before they’ s game-winner. After scoring the black ball, notice the white ball would remain last in the table pool to represent a victory. These are some of the examples that connotate the black colour as the representative of failure.  

Questions that relate to the belief system.  


In the African culture, when the family does the ancestry rituals, they're normal tendencies of slaughtering white chickens if the family begs for blessings and the slaughtering of black chickens if the family wants to detach from adversities. The traditional healers imply that the white colour is the sign of blessing and the black colour is the sign of bad luck. The mental attitude toward the black colour has a direct bearing on black identity. 

At weddings, it rare to see a bride donning a black dress, but on funerals, the widows are habitually buying the black dress for mourning. Why do we allow the state of despair to be represented by black colour and the state of contentment to be represented by white colour?

These practices are directly influencing the dialect, myths, and the perceptions of black people about their racial identity. Black people are perceived to be inferior to white people. To debunk this erroneous belief, the black colour should be associated with positivity and excellence. 

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