Daily Dose of Sultnpapper 09/17/18> Black sheep, blacklisted, black balled… why is black almost always the adjective describing something bad?
Got me to thinking...
A very good member of the #thesteemengine community posted a very good piece on what to do if you get “blacklisted” on steemit.com and after reading the post and a couple comments back and forth between the author and me it got me to thinking even more about the subject.
Can be a little dangerous...
When I think and start drilling down on something I can be a little dangerous with what I come up with. I have even been known to get side tracked and totally off the subject I started out in pursuit of. Such was the case on Sunday when I started going through my mind on just what type of egregious things a person could do to get blacklisted.
Before I get too...
Before I get too far into this let me just thanks to @sumatranate for being the inspiration for the subject matter of today’s Daily Dose, Thanks Nate. Also here is a link to his post,
Nate’s blog if you get a chance to read it please do, because he gives some great advice in that piece.
Back to black...
Now, back to where I was going, why is the word “black” associated with so much negative things? Why is it that the knight in shining armor is always the “white” knight? When it comes to sheep never do you see a black sheep winning at the livestock shows in the sheep judging contests?
Might be a....
As crazy as this might sound; I almost think that there might just be a conspiracy out there in the world against the color black. Seriously, what else could it be? The thing is I actually know how part of it got started.
I know black sheep...
I have two brothers and sister and I was the black sheep of the family so I do know what the hell I am talking about when it comes to black sheep, so just keep that in mind.
It all started in...
Many, many, and mean many years ago in west Texas there was a big ranch that raised sheep. The sheep were raised both for the wool their coats produced and also for their meat. Sheering sheep ain’t fun either, not for the person with the sheers or for the sheep; it is some hot dirty work.
Sheep wool is used for all sorts of items, blankets, sweaters, socks anything that you could wear or wrap up in to stay warm and dry you can pretty much find made of wool, sheep’s wool.
Lots of flexibility...
Being that most sheep grow wool coats that are white in color that allows for a lot of flexibility in what the color of the products can be made with that wool since the wool can be dyed and made to be whatever color is desired.
Protect the gene pool...
The last thing the rancher needed to have was a sheep that had black wool growing on it instead of white. Black wool can’t be dyed to change the color of the wool so it meant that whatever would be made with that wool was going to be black. He also didn’t need that black sheep breeding his white sheep since that would just pass along that gene that produced black wool. So the black sheep ended up being culled real quickly in order to stem the contamination of the sheep gene pool on the ranch.
The garment industry...
The garment industry likes to be able to make things in different colors so they weren’t about to buy black wool and limit what they could produce; so being a black sheep meant you weren’t wanted or needed and you ended up as part of the Sunday meal.
Have you ever actually...
From that ranch in west Texas the term black sheep started, undesirable was the meaning and it sure had to do with color. Just like anything though people started using that term to describe other things; even those that color wasn’t involved with. How many times have you actually seen a list that was on black paper? Yet we hear the term blacklisted real frequently.
Black sheep led the charge in black being undesirable or just bad, and it spread from there.
Now the word black...
Now days even some people get offended if you even mention the word black. It has really gotten that far out of hand now in this politically correct society we have become. We really don’t need to be qualifying stuff with colors in this day and age where no color is even involved. If something is bad, then say it is bad, don’t color it black.
Being white never...
The same goes for something good; if it is good just say so, it’s good. Being white never made anything good other than sheep’s wool.
In fact I can think of a couple things that are white and in my opinion aren’t good. Snow would be one of those, “pure and white was the wind driven snow” is a line from some book I remember reading when I was a kid and thinking to myself that snow is curse that is laid upon people living in the north.
Sugar is white...
Sugar is another substance that is white in color and the doctors tell us all the time that we need to stay away from it. So just to be clear on this; I know that white doesn’t necessarily mean that something is good either, but it gets more play in being used in that way.
A real guzbucking mess...
If we don’t watch what the hell we are doing with describing things and people with colors this place we live in is going to turn into a real guzbucking mess for sure. There will probably be a day when some group tries to hijack all the colors of the rainbow and claim those as theirs.
So the next time you hear anything prefaced with the word “black” now you will now where it all started from, Texas.
Until next time,
@sultnpapper
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You know? Before we had lights, people were really afraid of the dark. Afraid of the Black, as it were. I think we might have a bit of 'racial' (being of the entire race) genetic level fear of black.
So, just to be a little contrary, if we didn't have black sheep we probably wouldn't have lamb chops. They'd raise them all for wool production and they would be sheep chops. Just sayin'
So why don't the wool producers just bleach the black wool? I know durn well that they bleach the white wool in order to make their start point and final dye run consistent.
Funny creatures, we humans. How'd we ever get to the point that we could put 'good and bad' connotations to descriptive words like colors. So is grey sorta bad? Is beige mostly good?
One more thing. I dropped an actual FBomb in my post for tomorrow. It was a full on quote and it felt right. We'll see how that works.
You know, JC hung with the 'dregs' of society. I'm guessing he knew all the words and how to use them, and probably in three languages. Greek, Coptic and Aramaic. That's why I use the FBomb every now and again.
Yes, the old "black of the night" I did leave that one out and I totally forgot about the Black Sea. You are absolutely correct about bleaching now, but back in the day of when the term "black sheep" came about they were still spinning wool and cotton on those little old hand spun or foot powered spinning wheels I am not sure if bleach had even been invented then.
I think grey is sorta bad, people seem to use the term "grey area " on things , especially law makers and judges. But I can't offer an opinion beige, never really hear that word except when actually describing the color of carpet.
Using the FBomb sometimes is mandatory like in a quote, It would not be an actual quote if you didn't use the exact words. Then you have to preface the sentence with something like, " Joe was really angry and he said something like .... blah blahblah. " So using it in an exact quote had to feel right for you because you understand the meaning of quote. I am sure it will work fine, it is not like you use it like some old drunken sailor and every other word out of mouth is the FBomb. Of course that might have been a different story if it wasn't for the damn bow and arrow.
You ain't gonna drag a remark from me on the JC using it but he did hang with some shady folks from what I have read but when it gets right down to everyone who ever lived could be a little shady in some way.
I'm thinking I should write a post about this, but I'm thinking simple words describing biological functions don't have anything to do with JC and everything to do with 'class'. Like stay in your place, boy. Authored by people whose real intent and interest is to stay in charge like Popes and MPs and preachers and such.
The only real prohibition on language I have been able to find in my studies of the bible is the one "Thou shalt not take the Lord's name in vain." You know they meant it when they gave it a Thou Shalt Not in front of it. Not that the other 9 are followed exactly, either.
Anyway, I'm not saying that JC said those words (or whatever was used in place of them at the time) but I am saying that he was around them because he hung with and ministered to the 'lower class'. He wasn't particularly interested in keeping the current upper class in place. It's what got him killed. Sedition. Talking against your leaders.
Yes, the 10 things you won't find in a court house are seldom followed any more.
Talking against your leaders sure can get you killed, even in this day and age.
Haha! Love it
Black, white red, yellow or rainbow. They are all colours in the crayon box. People are too quick to put labels on everything and put them into little pigeon holes because they think it makes life less complicated. They want everything wrapped up in neat little packages for them. Well, life is complicated. There are no black and white, only shades of grey. Personally, I like all the colours in the Crayola box. It adds spice to my life.
I heard there are exactly fifty shades of grey, I don't know if that is true or not because all the crayon boxes I got only had one grey crayon.
and as it turns out, white crayons are almost 100% useless. Unless you have something black to give them value. Imagine that.
So true, great read on that, even brown and other dark colors give white crayons value and that really does go over looked.
Dark and Light, I feel its as simple as that. Dark is "scary", Light is "warm" - one feels bad, one feels good.
People get SO uptight over words. And labels. People are generally wound way too tight over such things in my opinion.
Like cursing, for example, "but the bible says..." yeah, um, I'm pretty sure the word "f*ck" didn't exist in Aramaic, the language Jesus was said to speak. Words kids, no big deal. Sticks and stones and such, eh? Let's try to thicken those skins a little, shall we?
And likewise, I'm pretty sure nobody was thinking of racial division when some of these metaphors were invented, like "black plague" or whatever. I mean, hell in those ancient days, we were hardly this giant multicultural melting pot. These people were over here and those people were over there, and I doubt most had ever even seen one of each other.
Another thought provoking read as always.
edit:
PS: There will probably be a day when some group tries to hijack all the colors of the rainbow and claim those as theirs.
This made me laugh out loud a little :)
Sircork I always enjoy reading your comments here on the daily Dose.
Color is a subject that gets way to much attention for sure, hell, I even drew attention to it with this daily dose. Honestly, I would like to see color disappear completely from descriptions but that probably wouldn't change anything in the grand scheme of things but it might.
I don't know if you have been around enough here but "guzbuck" is a good wholesome word for that nasty F-bomb the people also hate to see and hear but love to do. So feel free to use until people discover it and start bad mouthing it.
Does it translate to Aramaic? Because I'm told that's a no fly zone.
:)
No, not that I am aware of. I created that word last year or early this year as part of a writing contest for Hard Fork, a new series that is being filmed. I googled that word and nothing came up in google, bing, or yahoo. Websters didn't have anything either in the dictionary.
So I ran with it giving it my own definition.
Now since I have been using it there are several of my daily dose columns that show up on a google search for the word "guzbuck" . I know that google has different results for different parts of the world so I don't know where you are or what those might be.
I do know that a follower of the Daily Dose from Berlin Germany googled it where he is and said that he found it listed in his results. In fact he said, "It looks like you must have created this word" since the only results it showed were daily dose columns.
It might be considered a "no fly zone" soon, just like the F-Bomb is in some places, that word doesn't fly well in schools and courts and such.
So in answer to your question, no... not that I am aware of.
I'm in Virginia, lived all over the south east with a 90s stint as a ski lift operator in my young 20s in Colorado. I ain't never heard such a word. :D
The only other reference for the word I could find and that was just last week when @willymac asked if he thought he could get that as a personalized license plate for his car and so I did a search for plates with the word and one did turn up in Alabama with GUZBUCK so I don't know if that was before I started using it or not but who knows , other than the guzbucker in Alabama.
Oh my word @sircork, it's already happened on the southernmost tip of Africa!
Here in South Africa where have eleven official languages we're called The Rainbow nation, a term that came about after the fall of apartheid depicting our multicultural society.
Mr Papper, see where you've taken us now, or is it @sumatranate?
I believe Archbishop Desmond Tutu coined that phrase and Madiba carried his dream of a Rainbow nation forward when he first became president.
Over here, it just means you like to march in LBGTQ ABCDEFG parades...
Sadly the press only report on the bad stuff and that's how the rest of the world sees us.
:|
Of course it started in Texas, lol, why wouldn't it? :D
I remember when I was a kid and I saw a "black" person for the first time. I was 3 and he was one of the students of my father who was a karate coach. I was not a shy kid, never, lol, and I asked that person the following question "Why do people say you are black when you are brown?" :D :D :D I was so convinced that I was right that I even brought a black notebook with me to show him what the black color was. I was convinced that adults did not know colors :D
Anyway, I loved your post and wanted to share this with you :) Enjoy your day! 💚
Of course it did, I just told you the story. Do you doubt me?
That is funny about the black and the notebook. I am about to call it a night it is 12:30AM on Monday and I need some sleep. You have a great day too.
At 6 mom worked at an inner city after school program for teens and id go with her to their playground. I asked her coming home one day, can black people sunburn? At six, i learned about melanin. lol my darker friends hear this story to this day and laugh and laugh. :)
From a practical standpoint black sheep being labeled as bad makes perfect sense. In that case I wouldn't have considered "black=bad" from its usage on black sheep. Blacklist/whitelist has no defense though, though I doubt we would change it to goodlist/badlist anytime soon. Though those do sound more direct heh... (Texas, I'd say you're off the hook on this one)
It was practical back then, not so much now.
It isn't our fault people decided to expand on the original concept that is for sure.
I didn't know that is where the term black sheep came from, interesting...I would think black wool would be quite scarce and valuable, especially for knitters! :) Great write @sultnpapper..in this world the wrong words can cause wars! Or in the case of steemit...blacklisted, yikes
Yes, black wasn't the color of choice for wool back in the early 1800's but like @bigtom13 said now it doesn't matter since it all gets bleached before using so the can dye it from a consistent starting point of color, white.
Glad you enjoyed it, thanks for stopping by and giving a look.
Too true. Black has an association with night, cold and dark, but it's also cocoa beans, coffee and the little black dress. It's just daft people who take it to extremes. In the 1980s the Sun newspaper (a UK tabloid) reported that black people in London were getting angry about the use of the term "black bin liners". They weren't. It was just journalists trying to stir up race trouble.
Imagine that, a reporter trying to stir up race trouble, that is almost unbelievable. :)
haha yeah
Black Swan! That isn't bad, it is used to describe something unusual or unexpected? (although, where I'm from, the black swan is normal and the White one is weird...).
I was also reminded of an old Sci-fi series, where the White Mages were the "evil" ones that burned with chaos, where as the Black "mages" were the representatives of Order.
Well I stand correct, not always but quite a bit of the time.
I am not familiar with that old Sci-Fi series, never really got into the Sci-Fi stuff so that is also new to me, enough of what we consider as science and space travel as being real seems like it is being proven to have been fiction so I just don't know now what is real and what is fake when it comes to that stuff.
Thanks for dropping in and sharing with us, where exactly are you from Bengy?
White anting (undermining!), just thought of that one!
I'm originally from Australia (the land of black swans!) where apparently every thing unusual is normal! Now I live in The Netherlands, where we have boring old white swans!
howdy sir sultnpapper! well sir....I don't know what I was gonna say because I started reading all your great commenters on here and forgot but you got some great people!
You know what @janton you are absolutely correct; there are really a lot of great people that stop by the Daily Dose very regularly and make great comments, I am really blessed to have them here with me. Every morning when I wake up, I wake to some very thoughtful comments to enjoy my morning coffee with while reading them.
It is easy to see how you might have lost your train of the thought, but the Daily Dose might could be compared to a train depot. Just in the fact the train depots have lots of different types of people hanging round and there there will be another train of the thought that will pull in here at any moment you can jump on and head out on it.
haha! howdy sir sultnpapper! oh my gosh that sir is a brilliant analogy! Have you used that in a post yet?
No I have not Janton, and you are more than welcome to if you would like.