27 September 2017, The Tablet
Strictly roots
The Language Game
A ‘black’ person in medieval or early modern times was usually someone with dark hair or eyes
No one is really “black”; no one is really “white”. Nonetheless, those two opposing poles have been used to categorise huge and varied swaths of humanity in a way that continues to create mischief to this day.
Early English-speaking Caucasians did not need a racial label for themselves.
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