Dictionary Definition
blackness
Noun
1 the quality or state of the achromatic color of
least lightness (bearing the least resemblance to white) [syn:
black] [ant: white]
2 total absence of light; "they fumbled around in
total darkness"; "in the black of night" [syn: total
darkness, lightlessness, pitch
blackness, black]
User Contributed Dictionary
English
Noun
- The property of being black.
- The blackness of outerspace comes from the lack of anything to reflect light rather than the absence of black.
Extensive Definition
Blackness is the degree to which an individual,
regardless of their ethnic
background, is sympathetic to or a part of the mainstream African-American
culture.
A person may be thought of as "losing
their blackness" by not adhering to the mainstream thoughts of
the African-American community.
In Politics
Former US President Bill Clinton, despite being Caucasian, has been called "the first Black president."Debra
Dickerson, while speaking to Stephen
Colbert on The
Colbert Report (February 8,
2007), stated
that U.S. Senator Barack
Obama, despite having a father of Kenyan descent, was not black
because he had not lived and suffered the same way as the offspring
of African-American slaves. Dickerson even fell short of calling
Obama an African-American, instead referring to him as African
African-American.
Quotes
- "The concept of 'blackness,' as it has come to be understood, is rapidly losing its ability to describe, let alone predict or manipulate, the political and social behavior of Black Americans." - Debra Dickerson, The End of Blackness (Pantheon Books, 2004)