- published: 20 May 2016
- views: 62196
A blacklist (or black list) is a list or register of entities who, for one reason or another, are being denied a particular privilege, service, mobility, access or recognition. As a verb, to blacklist can mean to deny someone work in a particular field, or to ostracize a person from a certain social circle. Conversely, a whitelist is a list or compilation identifying entities that are accepted, recognized, or privileged.
According to the Henry Holt Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase Origins the word "blacklist" originated with a list England's King Charles II made of fifty-eight judges and court officers who sentenced his father, Charles I, to death in 1649. When Charles II was restored to the throne in 1660, thirteen of these regicides were executed and twenty-five sentenced to life imprisonment, while others escaped.
They also point out that "white list" is not the opposite of a blacklist, but rather a list, often kept by unions, of people suitable for employment. Refers to the "white-list".
They scorched the earth; they petrified the forest - painted windows
black. Pumped cyanide in rivers, roamed around in packs ; screamed "STAND,
DELIVER!" they always took it all. Resistance cracked, we'd hide, but sure
they'd find us curled up on the floorboards of our shack. Five on the
blacklist! Five on the blacklist! We were bubbling under, now we're in
there, with a bullet (through the brain) Frightened on the floorboards of
our shack, quite naked, once we'd fight them - now we take it all. They
have our names, they have our numbers. the print-out says we take it all
again and again untill we pay... Five on the blacklist! Five on the
blacklist! We were bubbling under, now we're in there, with a bullet. FIVE
! Five on the blacklist! FOUR! Five on the blacklist! THREE! Five on the
blacklist! TWO! Five on the blacklist! ONE ! Five on the blacklist!