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

[susanmcgee48176]

--- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Carol" <justcarol67 at ...> 
wrote:
>
> 
> 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
>


So, when we say this situation is not black and white? We're saying 
that something is not totally good nor totally bad. The guy on the 
white horse with the white hat. This is where "black" is associated 
with bad and "white" is associated with good. Remember all the 
complaints about Star Wars?

Susan