In the Middle Ages it was a folk belief that all-black animals were linked to the Devil, who was believed to take the form of an all-black man, black dog, black rooster, etc. Black = night = evil.
In any case taking "black" out of "baa baa black sheep" is unbelievably lame and makes me doubt the future viability of our species.
--- Doug Henwood <dhenwood at panix.com> wrote:
> >
> One of the blogs - and we know how well they're
> fact-checked! - said
> that black sheep were considered cursed, and yielded
> less wool. That
> certainly does stigmatize blackness, even if it's
> not overtly and
> literally racist.
>
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