Black: Difference between revisions
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Black people are dirty niggers |
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{{otheruses1|the color}} |
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{{infobox color|title=<font color="#FFFFFF">Black</font>|hex=000000| |
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r=0|g=0|b=0| |
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c=0|m=0|y=0|k=100 †| |
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h=-|s=-|v=0| |
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spelling=Color |
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}} |
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[[Image: Cat_Russian_Blue_004.jpg|thumb|[[Black cat]], thought by some to cause bad luck|200 px]] |
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'''Black''' is the shade of objects that do not reflect light in any part of the visible spectrum. |
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Scientifically black is not a hue (color); a black object absorbs all the colors of the visible spectrum and reflects none of them, this is sometimes confused with black being called 'a mixture of all colors' but that is not the case. Sometimes black is described as an "achromatic color"; in practice black can be considered a color, e.g., the black cat or black paint. |
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==Color or light in science== |
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Black can be defined as the visual impression experienced in directions from which no [[visible light]] reaches the eye. (This makes a contrast with [[white]]ness, the impression of any combination of [[color]]s of [[light]] that equally stimulates all three types of color-sensitive visual receptors.) |
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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". |
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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]] |
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{| style="border:solid 1px black;" |
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|+ † various [[CMYK]] combinations |
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!c!!m!!y!!k |
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|- |
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|align=right|0%||align=right|0%||align=right|0%||align=right|100%||align=center|(canonical) |
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|- |
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|align=right|100%||align=right|100%||align=right|100%||align=right|0%||align=center|(ideal inks, [[subtractive color#limitations|theoretical only]]) |
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|- |
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|align=right|100%||align=right|100%||align=right|100%||align=right|100%||align=center|([[registration black]]) |
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|} |
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In [[physics]], a [[black body]] is a perfect absorber of light, but by a rule derived by [[Albert Einstein|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. |
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In elementary science far Ultraviolet light is called "black light" because, unseen (per se), it causes many minerals and other substances to [[Phosphorescence|fluoresce]]. |
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==Usage, symbolism, colloquial expressions== |
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{{Cleanup-list|December 2006}} |
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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 [[India]]n [[varna (caste)|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]]. |
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*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.{{Fact|date=December 2006}} |
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**E.g., [[Wall Street Crash 1929|Black Tuesday]], stock market crash on [[October 29]], [[1929]] which is the start of the [[Great Depression]]. |
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**[[Wall Street Crash 1929|Black Thursday]], stock market downturn on [[October 24]], [[1929]] |
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**[[Black Monday]], [[stock market crash]] on [[October 19]], [[1987]]. |
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**the [[Black September in Jordan]] refers to a month in which thousands were killed. |
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**[[Black July]] killing of the [[Tamil people|Tamil]] population by the Sinhalese government |
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**[[Black Spring]] (''Printemps noir'') refers to the events of spring 2001 in the [[Berber people|Berber]] region of [[Kabylia]] ([[Algeria]]), when the police shot and killed more than 100 people. |
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**[[Black Wednesday]] caused Britain to pull out of the [[European Exchange Rate Mechanism]]. |
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**[[Black Friday]], various tragic events. (Exception: See [[Black Friday (shopping)]].) |
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*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]]). |
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*In English [[heraldry]], black means darkness, doubt, ignorance, and uncertainty. (The American Girls Handy Book, p. 370) |
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*Black is often a color of [[mourning]] in North American 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. |
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*[[Black comedy]] is a form of [[comedy]] dealing with morbid and serious topics. |
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*[[Black magic]] is an evil form of [[magic (paranormal)|magic]], often connected with [[death]]. |
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*A [[blacklist]] is a list of undesirable persons or entities (to be placed on the list is said to be "blacklisted". |
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* [[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. |
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*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 [[Western (genre)|Hollywood Westerns]], bad cowboys wear [[black hat]]s while the good ones wear white. Funeral dress is black, wedding gowns are white. |
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*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 (genre)|Western]] convention.) |
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*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. |
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*[[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. |
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*The [[black sheep (term)|black sheep]] of the family is the ne'er-do-well. |
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*The infamous "[[Black Hole of Calcutta|black hole of Calcutta]]." |
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*A black mood is a bad one (e.g. [[Winston Churchill]]'s depression, which he called "my black dog").<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.christianethicstoday.com/Issue/016/Dancing%20with%20the%20Black%20Dog%20By%20Hal%20Haralson_016_7_.htm|title=Dancing with the Black Dog|author=Hal Haralson|work=christianethicstoday.com|accessdate=2006-11-10}}</ref> |
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*A black cat is [[superstition|superstitiously]] considered bad luck and linked with death. |
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*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]]). However, sinking the black ball on the opening shot results in an automatic win. |
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*A black mark against you is a bad thing. |
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*A black-hearted person is mean and unloving. |
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*[[Black propaganda]] is the use of known falsehoods, partial truths, or masquerades in propaganda to confuse an opponent. |
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*[[Black Death]], also known as the Black Plague, was a pandemic in Europe which killed tens of millions of people. |
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*[[The Black Parade]], a music album by [[My Chemical Romance]], is a collection of music relating to "The celebration of [[death]]." |
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===Positive symbolism=== |
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*In the [[Maasai]] tribes of [[Kenya]] and [[Tanzania]], the color black is associated with rain clouds, becoming a symbol of life and prosperity. |
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*Black was also the color of the [[Arab]] dynasty of [[Abbasid]] [[caliph]]s, and that's why black is frequently used in flags of Arab-Muslim countries |
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*In Western [[fashion]], black is considered stylish. 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.) |
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**The colloquialism "[[the new black]]" is a reference to the latest trend or fad, on the basis that black is always fashionable. |
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*Black can also be seen as the color of prestige: for example, [[limousine]]s are usually in black, and black tuxedos are worn at [[black tie]] functions. |
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*The band [[AC/DC]] sang "Back in Black", a song about being successful and ambitious once again. |
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*Black is seen as a color of seriousness and authority. |
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**Many [[priest]]s of the older [[religious denomination]]s traditionally wear black. |
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**[[Lawyer]]s and [[judge]]s often wear black robes, as do [[university]] graduates (see [[Academic dress]]). |
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**The ''[[beltzak]]'' ("blacks" after their uniform) are the riot control units of the [[Basque Autonomous Police]] |
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* In the [[TV]] series ''[[Power Rangers]]'' and its [[Japan]]ese counterpart, ''[[Super Sentai]]'', black is one of the colors worn by a Power Ranger or a Super Sentai member. In both series, along with the [[green]] rangers, the are often seen as the "macho" rangers. They are interchangeable with green, and in Super Sentai, black is usually second-in-command |
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*Traditionally, [[Police]] vehicles ("[[Panda car]]s") were in black and white. |
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*[[Black Watch]] is the senior Highland Regiment of the [[British Army]]. |
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*To say one's accounts are "in the black" is used to mean that one is free of debt. |
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**(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.) |
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*[[Cathar]] Perfects wore black (Cathars viewed black as a color of perfection). |
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*In [[Rastafari movement|Rastafari]] culture, amongst others, black is seen as beautiful. |
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*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 the highest rank of many [[martial arts]] being a [[black belt (martial arts)|black belt]]. |
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===Neutral symbolism=== |
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*The term "black" is often used in the [[Western World|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]]. |
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*In arguments, things can be [[black-and-white]], meaning that the issue at hand is [[dichotomy|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. |
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*Black frequently symbolizes [[ambiguity]], [[secrecy]], and the unknown. |
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**A ''[[black box]]'' is any device whose internal workings are unknown or inexplicable. |
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**A ''black project'' is a secretive project, like [[Enigma machine|Enigma Decryption]], other classified military programs or operations, [[Narcotics]], or police [[sting operation]]s. |
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**The [[blackshirts]] were Italian Fascist militias (negative for anti-fascists, but presumably positive for the original fascists themselves) |
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**Some organizations are called "black" when they keep a low profile, like [[Société Anonyme|Sociétés Anonymes]] and [[secret societies]]. |
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*From [[1988]] until his death in the [[2001]] [[Daytona 500]], [[NASCAR]] driver [[Dale Earnhardt]] was famous for driving a black [[Chevrolet]]. |
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*The term "[[black hole]]" is applied to [[Gravitational collapse|collapsed]] [[star]]s. 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. |
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*The national [[rugby union|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). |
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*[[Football (soccer)|Association football (soccer)]] [[referee (football)|referees]] traditionally wear all-black uniforms, however nowadays other uniform colors may also be worn. |
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*In [[auto racing]], a black [[flag]] signals a certain driver to go into the pits. |
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*Black is also used for [[anarchist symbolism]], sometimes split in diagonal with other colors for further symbolism. The plain black flag is explained as the opposite of a white flag signalling surrender. It is also sometimes an anarchist dress code, with a practical benefit of not attracting attention and making later identification of a subject difficult. This strategy referred to as a [[black bloc]]. |
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*[[Black metal]] is a style of music including bands such as [[Darkthrone]] and [[Mayhem]]. |
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*In [[Portugal|Portuguese]] politics, black is the party color of the [[Left Bloc]]. |
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*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. |
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*A polished black mirror is used for [[scrying]], and is thought to help see into the [[paranormal]] world without interference or distraction. |
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*Members of the modern [[Goth subculture]] dress predominantly in black. |
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*Many performers of [[European classical music|classical]] or other "serious" art music dress in all-black clothes for a [[concert]] or [[recital]]. |
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*A large number of sports 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 [[National Basketball Association|NBA]], and [[Internazionale Milano F.C.|Inter Milan]] of the [[Serie A]] of the [[Italian football league system|Italian soccer leagues]]. |
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==Black pigments== |
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*[[Carbon black]] |
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*[[Ivory black]] |
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*[[Ebony]] |
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*[[charcoal|Charcoal black]] |
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==References== |
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<references/> |
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==See also== |
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*[[List of colors]] |
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{{web colors}} |
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{{Shades of gray}} |
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{{Spoken Wikipedia|black.ogg|2005-08-16}} |
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==External links== |
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*[http://www.sensationalcolor.com/content/view/1054/144/ All About Black] |
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[[Category:Spoken articles]] |
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[[ar:أسود]] |
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[[ay:Ch'iyara]] |
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[[bs:Crna]] |
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[[ca:Negre]] |
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[[cs:Černá]] |
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[[cy:Du]] |
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[[da:Sort]] |
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[[de:Schwarz]] |
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[[arc:ܐܘܟܡܐ]] |
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[[el:Μαύρο]] |
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[[es:Negro (color)]] |
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[[eo:Nigro]] |
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[[fa:سیاه]] |
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[[fr:Noir]] |
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[[gl:Negro (cor)]] |
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[[hr:Crna]] |
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[[id:Hitam]] |
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[[is:Svartur]] |
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[[it:Nero]] |
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[[he:שחור]] |
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[[la:niger (color)]] |
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[[lt:Juoda]] |
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[[hu:Fekete]] |
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[[mt:Iswed]] |
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[[ms:Hitam]] |
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[[nah:Tlīltic]] |
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[[nl:Zwart]] |
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[[ja:黒]] |
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[[ko:검정]] |
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[[no:Svart]] |
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[[nn:Svart]] |
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[[nrm:Nièr]] |
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[[pl:Barwa czarna]] |
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[[pt:Preto]] |
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[[ksh:Schwaz (Färv)]] |
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[[ru:Чёрный цвет]] |
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[[scn:Nìuru]] |
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[[simple:Black]] |
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[[sk:Čierna]] |
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[[sl:Črna]] |
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[[sr:Црна боја]] |
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[[fi:Musta]] |
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[[sv:Svart]] |
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[[vi:Đen]] |
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[[tg:Сиёҳ]] |
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[[tr:Siyah]] |
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[[uk:Чорний колір]] |
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[[zh:黑色]] |
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[[yi:שווארץ]] |
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Revision as of 14:46, 26 April 2007
Black people are dirty niggers