Questioning "Black"

This is a questioning blog post. Entry in dictionary: a blog post that contains many questions.

I am all for telling it like it is. Call a kettle black, if it’s black. But reading Maya Angelou’s poem “Televised” made me stop to ponder. She poeticises (is there such a word?) about watching lunchtime news and seeing faces of starving children. Then she asks the question “Why are they always Black?” (Note capitalised B)

Black. That is a complicated word (apart from the fact that it’s a colour) I know all the stereotypical characteristics that are associated with being Black. I mean, if you love food you are Black. If you dig basketball and hip-hop you are sooo Black. All this is in an American context by the way. If you are an ex-con and you are unemployed you are most probably Black. Worse, if you are in jail there’s a big chance that you are Black. (Sigh!)

I know the scientific explanation given about being Black. I remember something from my bio lessons, when I was still a child. Those were the days. There was something called melanin that gives Black people the Blackness, although it is possible that some people have more melanin than others, ‘cause they are so dark they are nearly green.

When Barack Obama was elected president of the USA, he was called the first Black president of the USA. I’m sorry to be to be this daft, but why wasn’t Bush called the 43^rd white president of the United States? Why was it so important to point out that he is Black?

So, if this word “Black” were to be entered into a dictionary, what would the definition be? If you are Black, what are you? Please don’t say being in jail; being out of jail; living in jail; dodging jail etc. It’s bad for my mental health. But seriously, is it about the dark skin? Is it a philosophy or a way of life? Is it a myth or a mystery? Is it about Africa? Is it a social construct that has been created to make out some people to be better than others? What does is mean to be Black?

Oh by the way I’m in denial (whisper: “I don’t think I’m Black!”) Just kidding!

If we are going to say someone is Black, then “Black” needs to have a definition. I just don’t want to be told about Obama or Bolt or some Black man who has made it in this dreary world. I’m an academic. I want it written and defined. I need something to refer to when I’m writing a linguistics essay.

What is “Black”? Does “Black” even exist?