Editing Black (section)

==Associations and symbolism==

In the West, black is commonly associated with [[mourning]] and bereavement,<ref>Eva Heller, ''Psychologie de la couleur – effets et symboliques'', p. 109. In the survey cited, 80 percent of respondents said black was the color of mourning.</ref>{{Sfn|St. Clair|2016|p=261}} and usually worn at funerals and memorial services. In some traditional societies, for example in Greece and Italy, some widows wear black for the rest of their lives. In contrast, across much of Africa and parts of Asia like Vietnam, white is a color of mourning.

A "black day" (or week or month) usually refers to tragic date. The [[Ancient Rome|Romans]] marked ''[[fasti]]'' days with white stones and ''nefasti'' days with black. The term is often used to remember massacres. Black months include the [[Black September in Jordan]], when large numbers of Palestinians were killed, and [[Black July]] in [[Sri Lanka]], the killing of members of the [[Tamil people|Tamil]] population by the [[Sinhalese people|Sinhalese]] government. In the financial world, the term often refers to a dramatic drop in the stock market. For example, the [[Wall Street crash of 1929]], the [[stock market crash]] on 29 October 1929, which marked the start of the [[Great Depression]], is nicknamed Black Tuesday, and was preceded by Black Thursday, a downturn on 24 October the previous week.

In western popular culture, black has long been associated with [[evil]] and [[darkness]]. It is the traditional color of [[witchcraft]] and [[black magic]].{{sfn|St. Clair|2016|p=261}}

Black is frequently used as a color of power, law and authority. In many countries judges and magistrates wear black robes. That custom began in Europe in the 13th and 14th centuries. Jurists, magistrates and certain other court officials in France began to wear long black robes during the reign of [[Philip IV of France]] (1285–1314), and in England from the time of [[Edward I]] (1271–1307). The custom spread to the cities of Italy at about the same time, between 1300 and 1320. The robes of judges resembled those worn by the clergy, and represented the law and authority of the King, while those of the clergy represented the law of God and authority of the church.<ref>Michel Pastoureau, ''Noir – histoire d'une couleur'', pp.&nbsp;114–15.</ref> Until the 20th century most police uniforms were black, until they were largely replaced by blue in France, the U.S. and other countries. In the United States, police cars are frequently [[black and white (police vehicle)|Black and white]]. The [[riot control]] units of the [[Basque Autonomous Police]] in Spain are known as ''[[beltzak]]'' ("blacks") after their uniform.

Black formal attire is still worn at many solemn occasions or ceremonies, from graduations to formal balls.  Graduation gowns are copied from the gowns worn by university professors in the Middle Ages, which in turn were copied from the robes worn by judges and priests, who often taught at the early universities. The [[mortarboard]] hat worn by graduates is adapted from a square cap called a [[biretta]] worn by Medieval professors and clerics.

In the 19th and 20th centuries, many machines and devices, large and small, were painted black, to stress their functionality. These included telephones, sewing machines, steamships, railroad locomotives, and automobiles. The [[Ford Model T]], the first mass-produced car, was available only in black from 1914 to 1926. Of means of transportation, only airplanes were rarely ever painted black.<ref>Eva Heller, ''Psychologie de la couleur – effets et symboliques'', p. 226.</ref>

The term "Black" is often used in the West to describe people whose skin is darker. In the United States, it is particularly used to describe [[African Americans]]. Black is also commonly used as a racial description in the United Kingdom, since ethnicity was first measured in the 2001 census.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.statistics.gov.uk/about/Classifications/ns_ethnic_classification.asp |title=The Classification of Ethnic Groups |publisher=National Statistics |date=16 February 2001 |access-date=20 April 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070406195623/http://www.statistics.gov.uk/about/Classifications/ns_ethnic_classification.asp |archive-date=6 April 2007 |url-status=dead  }}</ref> In Canada, census respondents can identify themselves as Black.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2006/rt-td/eth-eng.cfm|title=Ethnic origin and visible minorities|date=2 April 2008|publisher=Statistics Canada|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130522203458/http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2006/rt-td/eth-eng.cfm|archive-date=22 May 2013|url-status=live}}</ref> In [[Brazil]], the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) asks people to identify themselves as ''branco'' (white), ''pardo'' (brown), ''preto'' (black), or ''amarelo'' (yellow).<ref>IBGE. 2008 PNAD. [http://www.sidra.ibge.gov.br/bda/tabela/protabl.asp?c=262&i=P&nome=on&notarodape=on&tab=262&unit=0&pov=1&opc1=1&poc2=1&OpcTipoNivt=1&opn1=2&nivt=0&orc86=3&poc1=1&orp=6&qtu3=27&opv=1&poc86=2&sec1=0&opc2=1&pop=1&opn2=0&orv=2&orc2=5&qtu2=5&sev=1000093&opc86=1&sec2=0&opp=1&opn3=0&sec86=0&sec86=2776&sec86=2777&sec86=2779&sec86=2778&sec86=2780&sec86=2781&ascendente=on&sep=43344&orn=1&qtu7=9&orc1=4&qtu1=1&cabec=on&pon=1&OpcCara=44&proc=1&opn7=0&decm=99 População residente por cor ou raça, situação e sexo] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924122321/http://www.sidra.ibge.gov.br/bda/tabela/protabl.asp?c=262&i=P&nome=on&notarodape=on&tab=262&unit=0&pov=1&opc1=1&poc2=1&OpcTipoNivt=1&opn1=2&nivt=0&orc86=3&poc1=1&orp=6&qtu3=27&opv=1&poc86=2&sec1=0&opc2=1&pop=1&opn2=0&orv=2&orc2=5&qtu2=5&sev=1000093&opc86=1&sec2=0&opp=1&opn3=0&sec86=0&sec86=2776&sec86=2777&sec86=2779&sec86=2778&sec86=2780&sec86=2781&ascendente=on&sep=43344&orn=1&qtu7=9&orc1=4&qtu1=1&cabec=on&pon=1&OpcCara=44&proc=1&opn7=0&decm=99 |date=24 September 2015 }}.</ref>

[[File:Lone ranger silver 1965.JPG|thumb|upright|Heroes in American [[westerns]], like the [[Lone Ranger]], traditionally wore a white hat, while the villains wore black hats.]]
[[Black-and-white dualism|Black and white]] have often been used to describe opposites, particularly light and darkness and good and evil. In [[Medieval literature]], the [[knight (stock character)|white knight]] usually represented virtue, the [[black knight]] something mysterious and sinister. In American [[westerns]], the hero often wore a white hat, the villain a black hat. 
In philosophy and arguments, the issue is often described as [[black-and-white]], meaning that the issue at hand is [[dichotomy|dichotomized]] (having two clear, opposing sides with no middle ground).
Black is commonly associated with [[secrecy]].
* The [[Black Chamber]] was a term given to an office which secretly opened and read diplomatic mail and broke codes. Queen [[Elizabeth I]] had such an office, headed by her Secretary, Sir [[Francis Walsingham]], which successfully broke the Spanish codes and broke up several plots against the Queen. In France a ''cabinet noir'' was established inside the French post office by [[Louis XIII]] to open diplomatic mail. It was closed during the [[French Revolution]] but re-opened under [[Napoleon]] I. The [[Habsburg monarchy|Habsburg Empire]] and [[Dutch Republic]] had similar black chambers.
* The United States created a secret peacetime [[Black Chamber]], called the Cipher Bureau, in 1919. It was funded by the [[State Department]] and Army and disguised as a commercial company in New York. It successfully broke a number of diplomatic codes, including the code of the Japanese government. It was closed down in 1929 after the State Department withdrew funding, when the new Secretary of State, [[Henry Stimson]], stated that "Gentlemen do not read each other's mail." The Cipher Bureau was the ancestor of the U.S. [[National Security Agency]].<ref name=NSAtimeline>{{cite web|title=Pre-1952 Historical Timeline|url=http://www.nsa.gov/about/cryptologic_heritage/center_crypt_history/pre_1952_timeline/index.shtml|work=National Security Agency|access-date=30 May 2011|archive-date=7 June 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110607015640/http://www.nsa.gov/about/cryptologic_heritage/center_crypt_history/pre_1952_timeline/index.shtml|url-status=live}}</ref>
* A [[black project]] is a secret unacknowledged military project, such as [[Enigma machine|Enigma Decryption]] during World War II, or a secret counter-narcotics or police [[sting operation]].
* [[Black ops]] are covert operations carried out by a government, government agency or military.
* A [[black budget]] is a government budget that is allocated for classified or other secret operations of a nation. The black budget is an account expenses and spending related to military research and covert operations. The black budget is mostly classified due to security reasons.

Black is the color most commonly associated with elegance in Europe and the United States.<ref name="ReferenceA">Eva Heller, ''Psychologie de la couleur, effets et symboliques'', p. 119.</ref> Black first became a fashionable color for men in Europe in the 17th century, in the courts of Italy and Spain. In the 19th century, it was the fashion for men both in business and for evening wear.<ref>Stefano Zuffi, ''Color in Art'', p. 308.</ref> For women's fashion, the defining moment was the invention of the [[little black dress|simple black dress]] by [[Coco Chanel]] in 1926. Thereafter, a long black gown was used for formal occasions, while the simple black dress could be used for everything else.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> The expression  "X is the new black" is a reference to the latest trend or fad that is considered a wardrobe basic for the duration of the trend, on the basis that black is always fashionable. The phrase has taken on a life of its own and has become a [[cliché]].