Blackamoor

[Gracie]

Coffee Rhetoric The Racial Stir Behind Dolce and Gabbana s Blackamoor Earrings

Is it racist?

Discuss

 

[Gracie]

black·a·moor
(blăk′ə-mo͝or′)
n. Offensive
A dark-skinned person, especially one from northern Africa.
[black + -a-, of unknown origin + Moor.]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
blackamoor
(ˈblækəˌmʊə; -ˌmɔː)
n
1. a Black African or other person with dark skin
[C16: see Black, Moor]
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003
black•a•moor
(ˈblæk əˌmʊər)

n. Archaic.
a person with very dark skin.
[1540–50; unexplained variant of phrase black Moor]
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.

 

[Gracie]

blackamoor
[blak-uh-moo r]
Spell Syllables

• Word Origin

noun, Older Use: Disparaging and Offensive.
1.
a contemptuous term used to refer to a black person.
2.
a contemptuous term used to refer to any dark-skinned person.
OriginExpand
1540-1550
1540-50; unexplained variant of phrase black Moor
Usage noteExpand
So-called blackamoors, or black Moors, were originally black people fromNorth Africa who worked as servants and slaves in wealthy Europeanhouseholds. The negative connotation of the term comes from its historicalassociation with servitude and from the perception that black Moors werestrangely exotic. In 1596, Queen Elizabeth I targeted them for deportation.

 

[Gracie]

Noun[edit]
blackamoor (plural blackamoors)

1. (archaic, offensive) A person with dark skin, especially (but not necessarily) one from northern Africa  [quotations ▼]
2. a blackamoor slave, a blackamoor servant; and hence any slave, servant, inferior, or child  [quotations ▼]
3. (heraldry) a stylized Negro
   Argent, three blackamoors' heads couped sable, capped or, fretty gules.

 

[Gracie]

Heraldry[edit]

The flag of Sardinia, including four "Maure" motifs, or Moors' heads.
In heraldry, a blackamoor may be a charge in the blazon, or description of a coat of arms. The isolated head of a moor is blazoned "aMaure" or a "moor's head".

The reasons for the inclusion of a blackamoor head vary. The Moor's head on the crest that appears on the arms of Lord Kirkcudbright, and in consequence the modern crest badge used by Clan MacLellan is supposed to derive from the killing of a moorish bandit known asBlack Morrow.[1] The blazon is a naked arm supporting on the point of a sword, a moor's head.[2] Other examples appear to depict captives; the flag of Sardinia once depicted four Maures blindfolded, but in recent versions the blindfolds have been raised to become headbands.

 

[Gracie]

Blackamoor art on ebay:

Blackamoor Collectibles eBay

 

[Gracie]

Blackamoor Fashion Its Roots Predate American Slavery - The Root

another take on the op link ^

Dolce & Gabbana's prominently featured blackamoor jewelry and clothing designs were rolled out in its spring 2013 collection fashion show in Milan on Sept. 23. They were called racist by some and blindly insensitive by others. Just last week, rapper Azealia Banks tweeted that she is "definitely boycotting" the luxury-apparel designer for using " 'black mammie' [sic] imagery."

While Dolce & Gabbana is not technically featuring American mammy images, the blackamoor designs evoke a similar sense of racial insensitivity. The design house's fashions are part of a long and complex history of blacks being used as European decorative exotica, dating back centuries.

Dolce & Gabbana has stated that these motifs are drawn from traditional Sicilian majolica ceramic designs that often featured the head of a black man, or a "Moor." Based on Sicilian folklore surrounding the Moorish invasion of southern Italy more than a millennium ago, the particular sources for the fashion house's current designs are not necessarily grounded in slavery. However, blackamoor imagery in general reflects trends in decorative arts that recall the history of slaves in Europe and the disturbing manner in which the European luxury culture objectified black bodies as mere ornament.

In European courts, such as France's Versailles in the 17th century, black court slaves dressed in exotic garb were symbols of wealth and luxury. Portraits of fashionable, aristocratic women often featured black attendants. The proximity of dark servants made the women look whiter and, thus, more beautiful by local standards. Furniture with black bodies supporting tables or holding candelabra mimicked the kind of labor these slaves performed. They became increasingly popularized through the 19th century.

 

[Gracie]

So....those who collect black art...are they racist? Or is it just the descriptive word of BLACKAMOOR considered racist but not the collectible itself?

 

[Statistikhengst]

Hmmm, they are just earrings...

 

[Gracie]

I have seen the jewelry before. But the other arts and crafts sell for buku bucks. Wish I could find some at a yard sale.