What does it mean to be black? I'm not sure if I can define that. I would say to have pigmented skin but then what about 'black' people who have very light skin tones? What should they be called?
As far as the meaning of black that has been accepted, 'black' (people) is a term that started when it was given to people of African descent who were in America during the black power movement. In actuality, no one is black, or white for that matter. Take a crayola crayon with the label "black" and try to match it to someone's skin. It won't match anyone's skin just as a white crayon won't either. In order to label slaves differently from slave owners, and based on African's predominantly darker skin tone, they were labeled the darkest color, black, and slave owners, who were lighter, were labeled the lightest color, white.
Not only people of African descent have dark skin tones but yet we were the ones labeled black. For example, Dominicans have some of the darkest skin tones you will see but are not called black. In fact, they refuse to be called black and instead would prefer to be labeled hispanic. Ever wonder why? Not only has the term black been used as a definition of skin tone but due to the negative connotation and consistently negative imagery in the media of black people, black is also and unfortunately strongly associated with being uneducated, violent, and/or poor. According to the American society, to be black is supposed to mean to be of African descent and if someone is black they are often assumed to relate to the negative imagery of black people in the media.
In reality, however, no one is black or white for that matter. We do have ethnicities such as Haitian, African, French, African-American or Haitian-American but in terms of color, it varies so much within different ethnicities that it should not be used to define or label anyone. In terms of color, we are simply people.
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