ABSTRACT
Introduction This chapter provides an overview of the symbolic and categorical uses of the terms ‘black’ and ‘white’ in ancient Greco-Roman literature. It discusses the development of Greco-Roman ideas about Africans, as well as Greco-Roman ideas around black and white terms, and the relationships between these two sets of ideas. It explores controversies among anti-racist theorists and classical historians over the concepts of ‘black’ and ‘white’ in the Greco-Roman era in order to situate this study within the broader question of racism in general and anti-African racism in particular. The chapter argues that, whether or not the ancient Greco-Roman symbolic and categorical uses of the terms ‘black’ and ‘white’ constituted racism, it nevertheless provided a useful symbolic framework for anti-African racism to flourish. It also demonstrates how the ancient use of the terms ‘black’ and ‘white’ served as a platform for the development of modern anti-African racism.
