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  1. Oct 2021
    1. Sometimes it is noted that, even before 1600, when the slave trade had justbegun, before Africans were stamped by it—literally and symbolically—thecolor black was distasteful. In England, before 1600, it meant, according to theOxford English Dictionary: “Deeply stained with dirt; soiled, dirty, foul.Having dark or deadly purposes, malignant; pertaining to or involving death,deadly; baneful, disastrous, sinister. Foul, iniquitous, atrocious, horriblywicked. Indicating disgrace, censure, liability to punishment, etc.” AndElizabethan poetry often used the color white in connection with beauty

      Was some of the origin of this black versus white dichotomy from religion of the time?

      Where does this black v. white differentiation begin? Zinn does mention the idea of daylight/night as a potential source.