Colour Theory
Sally Deen
They say that white is the sight of purity
Red is rage
Green is envy personified
Black is bad
That which is void of light has been labeled evil
The image of darkness has been soiled
Presented as the peak of undesirability
Dark became synonymous with dangerous
But whiteness looms over us
An ever-present pressure to be luminescent
A constant nagging that tells us
“Darkness pales in comparison to paleness”
On ‘Colour Theory’
This poem encourages readers to reevaluate the way we engage with colour theory. The colour white is portrayed as angelic while black often represents something sinister. Such attributes and meanings that Western society assign to colours perpetuates biases against Blackness and Black people.
The art accompanying this poem is courtesy of © Brittany Harris (@beeharris).