Member-only story
Dark Colors
The Black Things We Fear
Black cats, black magic, Black people, and more.
Black
“Your shirt is evil! Your shirt is evil,” my little nephews and nieces yelled, pointing at my black t-shirt.
I have fifteen nephews and nieces and 7 of them and my daughter were present and they all had worried looks on their faces.
“Uhm okay. What are you guys up to?” I asked as I walked towards them to see what the fuss was about. They were looking at a textbook and they pointed to the color chart and the meaning of the colors. One of the meanings listed for black was evil. They were working extra hard to wrap their minds around this new knowledge.
From the look on their little faces, they were so surprised that I would wear a color that was evil.
If black meant evil, why would anybody use, buy, or wear anything that’s black? They were confused!
My niece asked what my favorite color was.
“Black,” I said.
“Auntie, black can’t be your favorite color. Black is evil!” she snapped.
My daughter was there too. She was in deep thought about what she’d just learned about the color black. Black is bad?
“Mommy, I’m black. Does that mean I’m evil?” my daughter said.
Her cousins gasped in terror, staring at each other’s skin. Right then, I knew I had a huge responsibility. I had the responsibility to teach them the symbolism of the color black as I was witnessing them form their beliefs about life which were going to influence the path they chose for themselves.
“Black isn’t evil. It is used to portray evil,” I said.
“How do I explain to little children that the color black is used to symbolize evil, but the color itself is innocent?” I thought to myself while they looked at me to explain further.
I looked at my daughter and my nephews and nieces and said “Yes, black is used to portray bad things because of its darkness, but the color itself isn’t evil. Nothing is evil but the person who uses it.
If anything, black is magic. All the colors come together to make black.
