Color or light in science

Black can be defined as the visual impression experienced in directions from which no visible light reaches the eye. (This makes a contrast with whiteness, the impression of any combination of colors of light that equally stimulates all three types of color-sensitive visual receptors.)

Pigments that absorb light rather than reflect it back to the eye "look black". A black pigment can, however, result from a ''combination'' of several pigments that collectively absorb all colors. If appropriate proportions of three primary pigments are mixed, the result reflects so little light as to be called "black".

This provides two superficially opposite but actually complementary descriptions of black. Black is the lack of all colors of light, or an exhaustive combination of multiple colors of pigment. See also Primary colors

|+ † various CMYK combinations
!c!!m!!y!!k
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|align=right|0%||align=right|0%||align=right|0%||align=right|100%||align=center|(canonical)
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|align=right|100%||align=right|100%||align=right|100%||align=right|0%||align=center|(ideal inks, theoretical only)
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|align=right|100%||align=right|100%||align=right|100%||align=right|100%||align=center|(registration black)

In physics, a black body is a perfect absorber of light, but by a rule derived by Einstein it is also, when heated, the best emitter. Thus, the best radiative cooling, out of sunlight, is by using black paint, though it is important that it be black (a nearly perfect absorber) in the infrared as well.

In elementary science, far Ultraviolet light is called "black light" because, unseen (per se), it causes many minerals and other substances to fluoresce.

Neutral symbolism

The term "black" is often used in the West to denote race for persons whose skin color ranges from light to darker shades of brown. For a discussion of usage, see the main entry at Black (people) and Color terminology for race.

In arguments, things can be black-and-white, meaning that the issue at hand is dichotomized. However, this dualism is fraught with danger, as one may assign the colors "black and white" to bad and good, respectively. Also, few arguments have only two opposing sides.

Black frequently symbolizes ambiguity, secrecy, and the unknown.

A ''black box'' is any device whose internal workings are unknown or inexplicable. In theater, the black box is a room backstage in which the performers can practice.

A ''black project'' is a secretive project, like Enigma Decryption, other classified military programs or operations, Narcotics, or police sting operations.

The blackshirts were Italian Fascist militias (negative for anti-fascists, but presumably positive for the original fascists themselves)

Some organizations are called "black" when they keep a low profile, like Sociétés Anonymes and secret societies.

The term "black hole" is applied to collapsed stars. This term is metaphorical in the extreme, because few properties of black objects or black voids apply to black holes. However, light emitted within a black hole's event horizon cannot escape, hence a black hole cannot be directly observed.

The national rugby team of New Zealand is called the ''All Blacks'', in reference to their black outfits, and the color is also shared by other New Zealand national teams such as the Black Caps (cricket) and the Kiwis (rugby league).

Black Hole Sun is an award-winning (1995 Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance) song by the Seattle band Soundgarden from their albums Superunknown (1994) and A-Sides(1997).

Association football (soccer) referees traditionally wear all-black uniforms, however nowadays other uniform colors may also be worn.

In auto racing, a black flag signals a certain driver to go into the pits.

Black is used for anarchist symbolism, sometimes split in diagonal with other colors for further symbolism. The plain black flag is explained in various ways, sometimes as an anti-flag or a non-flag. Wearing black clothing is also sometimes an anarchist tactic during demonstrations, with a practical benefit of not attracting attention and making later identification of a subject difficult. This strategy referred to as a black bloc.

Black metal is a style of music including bands such as Darkthrone and Mayhem (naturally, fans or artists relating to the genre embrace the term whereas detractors use it negatively).

In Portuguese politics, black is the party color of the Left Bloc.

In ancient China, black was the symbol of ''North'' and ''Water'', one of the main five colors. There is no negative or positive meaning associated with it.

A polished black mirror is used for scrying, and is thought to help see into the paranormal world without interference or distraction.

Members of the modern Goth subculture dress predominantly in black.

Many performers of classical or other "serious" art music dress in all-black clothes for a concert or recital.

A large number of teams have uniforms designed with black colors - many feeling the color sometimes imparts a psychological advantage in its wearers. Among the more famous (or infamous) include Oakland Raiders and Pittsburgh Steelers of the NFL, the San Antonio Spurs and Miami Heat of the NBA, and Inter Milan of the Serie A of the Italian soccer leagues.

Black sky refers to the appearance of space as one emerges from the Earth's atmosphere.

The folk song "Black Is the Color (of My True Love's Hair)" makes a neutral association with the color.

Positive symbolism

In the Maasai tribes of Kenya and Tanzania, the color black is associated with rain clouds, becoming a symbol of life and prosperity.

Black was also the color of the Arab dynasty of Abbasid caliphs, and that's why black is frequently used in flags of Arab-Muslim countries

In Western fashion, black is considered stylish, sexy, and powerful. This seems to be for reasons of contrast with the light skin (conversely, white t-shirts or suits are sometimes stylish among dark-skinned people.)

The colloquialism "the new black" is a reference to the latest trend or fad, on the basis that black is always fashionable.

Black can also be seen as the color of prestige: for example, limousines are usually in black, and black tuxedos are worn at black tie functions.

The band AC/DC sang "Back in Black", a song about being successful and ambitious once again.

Black is seen as a color of seriousness and authority.

Many priests of the older religious denominations traditionally wear black.

Lawyers and judges often wear black robes, as do university graduates (see Academic dress).

The ''beltzak'' ("blacks" after their uniform) are the riot control units of the Basque Autonomous Police

Traditionally, Police vehicles ("Panda cars") were in black and white.

In the long-running Japanese tokusatsu TV series ''Super Sentai'' (and its American counterpart, ''Power Rangers''), black is one of the colors worn by a Super Sentai or Power Ranger member. In both series, along with the green rangers, the are often seen as the "macho" rangers and are typically male. They are interchangeable with green, and in Super Sentai, black is usually second-in-command.

Black Watch is the senior Highland Regiment of the British Army.

To say one's accounts are "in the black" is used to mean that one is free of debt.

(Being "in the red" is to be in debt—in traditional bookkeeping, negative amounts, such as costs, were printed in red ink, and positive amounts, like revenues, were printed in black ink, so that if "the bottom line" is printed in black, the firm is profiting.)

Cathar Perfects wore black (Cathars viewed black as a color of perfection).

In Rastafari culture, amongst others, black is seen as beautiful.

In Japanese culture, ''kuro'' (black) is a symbol of nobility, age, and experience, where it contrasts with ''shiro'' (white), which symbolizes serfdom, youth, and naiveté. This has resulted in many martial arts as the black belt being one of the first senior ranks called ''dan''.

In Hinduism the Hindu deity Krishna means the black one.

Black Friday is the first Friday after Thanksgiving and is, statistically, the largest shopping day in the US. It is given this title because, in accounting, profits are marked in black ink while losses are marked with red ink. The concept is that, all the shopping can put a company into the black (i.e., make a profit) for the year.

Negative symbolism

Colloquially, black is sometimes used with a negative connotation. The reasons for this are various, but the most widely accepted explanations are that night is experienced by humans as negative and dangerous. A secondary reason is that stains are most visible as dark additions to pale materials. In traditional class-based Western cultures "pale" skin indicated genteel domestic or intellectual indoor-work as opposed to rough outdoor labor in the fields. Aspects of this black/white opposition are not unique to the West, as, for example in the Indian varna system and in Japanese Geisha makeup. African, Afro-Caribbean and African-American writers such as Frantz Fanon, Langston Hughes, Maya Angelou, and Ralph Ellison in particular identify a number of negative symbolisms surrounding the word "black", arguing that the good vs. bad dualism associated with white and black provide prejudiced connotations to Color terminology for race.

A "black day" (or week or month), in these cultures, would refer to a sad or tragic time. The Romans already marked fasti days with white stones and nefasti days with black.

E.g., Black Tuesday, stock market crash on October 29, 1929 which is the start of the Great Depression.

Black Thursday, stock market downturn on October 24, 1929

Black Monday, stock market crash on October 19, 1987.

the Black September in Jordan refers to a month in which thousands were killed.

Black July killing of the Tamil population by the Sinhalese government

Black Spring (''Printemps noir'') refers to the events of spring 2001 in the Berber region of Kabylia (Algeria), when the police shot and killed more than 100 people.

Black Wednesday caused Britain to pull out of the European Exchange Rate Mechanism.

Black Friday, various tragic events. (Exception: See Black Friday (shopping).)

Many poems and songs use the word black negatively (e.g. "''Paint It Black''" (Rolling Stones), "''Baby's In Black''" (Beatles), "''Black Eyed Dog''" (Nick Drake), " Fade to Black" (Metallica, Dire Straits, Zeromancer).

In English heraldry, black means darkness, doubt, ignorance, and uncertainty. (The American Girls Handy Book, p. 370)

Black is often a color of mourning in Western societies. Historically, widows and widowers were often expected to wear black. Across much of Africa, white is a color of mourning and is worn during funerals.

Black comedy is a form of comedy dealing with morbid and serious topics.

Black magic is an evil form of magic, often connected with death.

A blacklist is a list of undesirable persons or entities (to be placed on the list is said to be "blacklisted".

Blackball: to blackball someone is to block their entry into a some club or some such institution. It comes from an old English practice in which current members of a club or the like would vote on the admission of a candidate by each secretly placing a white or black ball in a hat. If upon the completion of voting, there was even one black ball amongst the white, the candidate would be denied membership, and he would never know who had "blackballed" him.

Evil witches are stereotypically dressed in black and good fairies in white. Melodrama villains are dressed in black and heroines in white dresses. In many Hollywood Westerns, bad cowboys wear black hats while the good ones wear white. Funeral dress is black, wedding gowns are white.

In computer security, a blackhat is an attacker with evil intentions, while a whitehat bears no such ill will. (This is derived from the Western convention.)

The black market is used to denote the trade of illegal goods, or alternatively the illegal trade of otherwise legal items at considerably higher prices.

Blackmail is the act of threatening to reveal information about a person unless the threatened party fulfills certain demands. This information is usually of an embarrassing or socially damaging nature. Ordinarily, such a threat is illegal.

The black sheep of the family is the ne'er-do-well.

The infamous "black hole of Calcutta."

A black mood is a bad one (e.g. Winston Churchill's depression, which he called "my black dog").

A black cat is superstitiously considered bad luck and linked with death in the U.S., however in the UK a black cat is considered good luck.

If you sink the black eight-ball in billiards before all others are out of play, you lose (The ball with which you sink all others is the white cue ball).

A black mark against you is a bad thing.

A black-hearted person is mean and unloving.

Black propaganda is the use of known falsehoods, partial truths, or masquerades in propaganda to confuse an opponent.

Black Death, also known as the Black Plague, was a pandemic in Europe which killed tens of millions of people.