- Q: Is the often used black and white symbolism inherently racist? - A: Yes. Our classic light=good and dark=bad symbolism encodes our legacy of racism. - Q: Should we avoid the use of black/white symbolism in our writing? - A: It depends. Colors have no inherent meaning; they only have the meaning we attribute to them. You probably want to avoid reinforcing classic light/dark racist symbolism. However, you might choose to reinterpret light/dark symbolism in new ways.