Why is the phrase that someone is “black listed”? When I think of black lists I think of the House UnAmerican Committee and the hunt for Communists.

So shouldn’t it be that someone is “red listed”? I mean Communists and the red scare? And if you are in the red that means you are running negative versus being in the black.

It makes me curious. So I thought I would crowd source this to you, my readers. Then next week I will right a post in which I will reveal the origins of this phrase (which I don’t know right now).

So why?