#313. The Idea of a Black Hole

To continue our theme of the 40th anniversary of the landing on the moon by United States astronauts on July 20, 1969, we will explore one of the more perplexing astronomical terms that Black people find infuriating: the idea of a Black Hole. The black hole, according to wikipedia, is:

"In general relativity, a black hole is a region of space in which the gravitational field
is so powerful that nothing, including light, can escape its pull. The black hole has a one-way surface, called an event horizon, into which objects can fall, but out of which nothing can come. It is called "black" because it absorbs all the light that hits it, reflecting nothing, just like a perfect blackbody in thermodynamics."

The whole idea behind the black hole was created by the dreaded "Dead White Male" and has been an important basis of understanding and improving our knowledge of physics, the problems of potential time travel and how this interstellar phenomenon would impact space travel.

However, to Black people the idea of a black hole is a continuation of associating negative connotations with "blackness" and positive connotations with "whiteness".

Take for instance the strange verbal exchange between Dallas County Commissioner's Kenneth Mayfield (white) and John Wiley Price (Black), when Mr. Mayfield referred to the inability of the Central Collections office to collect and file traffic ticket revenue as a "black hole":

"It sounds like Central Collections has become a black hole," Commissioner Kenneth Mayfield, who is white, said during the Monday meeting.

Commissioner Kenneth Mayfield, who is white, said during the Monday meeting.
One black official demanded an apology, and Commissioner John Wiley Price, who also is black, said that type of language is unacceptable...Later, Price told MyFOXdfw.com that he believed it and other terms were racist.

"So if it's 'angel food cake,' it's white. If it's 'devil's food cake,' it's black. If you're the 'black sheep of the family,' then you gotta be bad, you know. 'White sheep,' you're okay. You know?" Price said."

After this exchange, another Black commissioner demanded an apology for this lewd and insensitive use of an apparent racial term "black hole":

"Commissioner John Wiley Price, who is black, interrupted him with a loud "Excuse me!" He then corrected his colleague, saying the office has become a "white hole."

That prompted Judge Thomas Jones, who is black, to demand an apology from Mayfield for his racially insensitive analogy.

Mayfield shot back that it was a figure of speech and a science term. A black hole, according to Webster's, is perhaps "the invisible remains of a collapsed star, with an intense gravitational field from which neither light nor matter can escape."

Black people find the use of insensitive astronomically terms highly offensive and the usage of black hole in negative connotations is something black people will not allow. To many Black people, the recent election of a Black person as president is also grounds for renaming the White House - a positive symbol linguistically - to the Black House.

Black people find the use of the term "black hole" incredibly offensive and hope to see its usage curtailed in science classes across the country.

Stuff Black People Don't Like will forever include black holes and other offensive astronomical terms, because to be associated with such a horrifying idea as a black hole is anathema to how Black people hope to be seen.