Why half black half white still called black?

Question

I am wondering why people who are born from white and black parents still called black. Sometimes even when they are only 1/3 or 1/4 black they are still called black.

In: Biology

Answer 1

We’re delving into a very complicated history of racism and racial perceptions but the short answer would be: throughout the imperial era and beyond, Europeans saw themselves as being superior to all other races. So they tended to see people as either white or not-white. The definition of who counted as a white person changed throughout history. But a half black person was first and foremost seen as non-white in a binary sense.