non-Black
adjective
variants
or less commonly non-black
or nonblack
: not of or relating to African American people or their culture
attended predominantly non-Black schools
Jean-Michel Basquiat was a gifted Black artist deeply immersed in a non-Black world.—
Joy Sewing
Joy SewingWhen Motown first packaged up a roster of artists and songs that could be embraced by a non-black audience, no new act … crossed over into the bosom of Middle America as easefully as the Supremes.—Jasper Rees
Jasper ReesExamples of non-Black in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Research from groups like the Intercultural Development Research Association and Arizona State University found that Black students are more likely to report being teased or discriminated against for their natural hair, compared to their non-Black classmates.
—Noelle Lilley, CBS News, 16 Mar. 2026
The filmmakers make an intentional decision to avoid actually sharing footage of Black deaths and anti-Black police violence on screen to avoid straying into morbid spectacle, which is a commendable ethical choice most non-Black filmmakers might not have made.
—Siddhant Adlakha, Variety, 14 Mar. 2026
Counterintuitively, the study found that non-Black patients did not have lower odds of receiving a transplant over the course of the study.
—Anil Oza, STAT, 10 Mar. 2026
In 2022, non-Black students made up 24% of the student population at HBCUs.
—Andrea Hagan, The Conversation, 10 Feb. 2026
Additionally, Black women are more likely to die from breast and uterine cancers than non-Black women — and Black men have the highest cancer rates of any American demographic.
—Marcos Magaña, Los Angeles Times, 14 Jan. 2026
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Noelle Lilley, CBS News, 16 Mar. 2026
The filmmakers make an intentional decision to avoid actually sharing footage of Black deaths and anti-Black police violence on screen to avoid straying into morbid spectacle, which is a commendable ethical choice most non-Black filmmakers might not have made.
—Siddhant Adlakha, Variety, 14 Mar. 2026
Counterintuitively, the study found that non-Black patients did not have lower odds of receiving a transplant over the course of the study.
—Anil Oza, STAT, 10 Mar. 2026
In 2022, non-Black students made up 24% of the student population at HBCUs.
—Andrea Hagan, The Conversation, 10 Feb. 2026
Additionally, Black women are more likely to die from breast and uterine cancers than non-Black women — and Black men have the highest cancer rates of any American demographic.
—Marcos Magaña, Los Angeles Times, 14 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Non-Black.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/non-Black. Accessed 3 Apr. 2026.
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