Etymology: "black-and-white" (Was: One reporter reacts to JKR's revelations)

[Carol]

Susan:
> > Now you say I'm in favor of a black and white (a racist phrase, by
the way)..
> 
Del:
> No it's not. Every single phrase that mentions the words "white" and
"black" is not a racist phrase. If it's racist, then tell me: which
colour is it in favour of? Black or white?

Carol:
As I understand it, the term, which dates to 1612, derives from
printing--black letters being sharply distinct from the white
background of the page. Its figurative use, which can mean either
meaning judging everything as either all-good or all-bad with nothing
in between or just sharply defined, has no more to do with race than
does a black-and-white photograph (generally sharper and clearer than
a color photo) or a black-and-white-striped zebra. 

black–and–white 
Function:
    adjective 
Date:
    1612

1: partly black and partly white in color 2: being in writing or print
3: executed in dark pigment on a light background or in light pigment
on a dark ground <a black–and–white drawing> 4: monochrome 2
<black–and–white film> <black–and–white television> 5 a: sharply
divided into good and evil b: evaluating or viewing things as either
all good or all bad <black–and–white morality> c: sharply defined:
clear-cut <the truth is not always black–and–white>

Carol, playing Hermione here and looking it up