What does the word black mean? It can be identified with many situations such as a people, a color, a feeling, actions or even personalities. Black could have a negative and a positive impact all at the same time. The meaning that is most commonly used is to describe a race of people.
Black is used to describe a race of people whose descendants are from Africa. The word Black is usually capitalized because it is describing a group of people. Black used to have a negative stigma attached to it. Since the Civil Rights movement and beyond the word Black came to be associated with respectibility because "Negroes" promoted labels such as "Black is Beautiful." Instead of referring to themselves as the primitive phrase of "Negroes" they embraced the term Black to describe them.
To extend this definition of Black, it can be a rich heritage of people that have been an integral part of World history and most importantly, American history. Black people have been known to have powerful dynasties and strong civilizations that had many advancements. In American history, they were a main contributor to the growth and development of the United States. Being forced to this country to work as slaves and considered "three-fifths" of a human, they were able to help the cotton industry and create rich Americans. Anericans became rich off of their hard labor. Also, they were forced from their homelands into a country where they weren't really wanted.
Basically, the word Black can be viewed as a positive word even though it started out as a negative one. It can be seen as this, in this country Black people were at the very bottom and now they are moving to the top. As Black people continue to elevate themselves, the word Black will continue to have positive meanings added on to it.
Cic's Insight