Blackball

Blackball (pronounced blak-bawl)

(1) To reject (blackball) a candidate for membership of something, secretly by placing a black ball in a ballot box.

(2) In casual use, socially to exclude; ostracize.

(3) Openly to vote against a candidate or applicant for membership of something (non-traditional use).

(4) A hard-boiled sweet with black & white stripes (NZ).

(5) In billiards and related games, the black ball.

(6) In professional surfing, a flag to tell surfers they must clear the water.

(7) A slang term for the US baseball leagues (1920-1958) comprising teams made up predominantly of African-Americans and Hispanic-Americans.  

1760–1770: The construct was black + ball; sometimes written as black-ball.  Black is from the Middle English blak, black & blake, from the Old English blæc (black, dark (also "ink”), from the Proto-West Germanic blak, from the Proto-Germanic blakaz (burnt) and related to the Dutch blaken (to burn), the Low German blak & black (blackness, black paint, (black) ink), the Old High German blah (black), which may be from the primitive Indo-European bhleg- (to burn, shine).  The forms may be compared with the Latin flagrāre (to burn), the Ancient Greek φλόξ (phlóx) (flame) and Sanskrit भर्ग (bharga) (radiance).  Ball was from the Middle English bal, ball & balle, from the Old English beall & bealla (round object, ball) or the Old Norse bǫllr (a ball), both from the Proto-Germanic balluz & ballô (ball), from the primitive Indo-European bholn- (bubble), from the primitive Indo-European bhel- (to blow, inflate, swell).  It was cognate with the Old Saxon ball, the Dutch bal, the Old High German bal & ballo, and the German Ball (ball) & Ballen (bale).  It’s thought all related forms in the Romance languages are borrowings from the Germanic.  In general use, meaning is now often extended to describing any veto, not just the secret form of the original blackballing and thus it's long been common for "blackballed", "blackballing" etc to be used to describe a pubic vetoing. 

The Secret Veto

A Masonic ballot-box.

Blackballing is a traditional form of secret ballot, used when the constitution of an organization permits applicants for membership to be vetoed by one or more existing members.  Typically members will convene and when asked to vote on the candidate for membership, each places one ball in the ballot box, a white ball signifying a vote in support, a black ball a veto.  The ballot-box is designed in such a way that while it can be seen who has voted, there’s no way to tell which ball they dropped.  Historically, acceptance often demanded unanimity so a single black ball was enough to exercise a veto but some organizations specify two blacks and there are always collateral rules about the process of notification of an applicant’s name and the number of existing members who need to be present to constitute the quorum required to render the vote legitimate.  Originally, the balls were made of ivory, hardwood or marble but composites became popular and in some some Masonic lodges, a black cube was used instead of a black ball so it could more easily be differentiated from a discolored white ball, the lighting in the halls often kept dim further to maintain the secrecy of the process although it's said the Freemasons often conduct their rituals and practices in at least semi-darkness.  Since the seventeenth century, these rules have applied to elections to membership of the Freemasons and many gentlemen's clubs, the practice adopted also by academia in the Soviet Union when members of dissertation panels cast their votes on a thesis defense.  It’s not known if the Secret Society of the Les Clefs d’Or uses the process.

Get Well Soon (Lindsay Lohan) (2007), silkscreen on canvas, by ©Scott Hug on Blackball Projects.

Black Ball Projects is a US-based, non-profit arts collective, founded in 2015 with the mission of providing gallery space for contemporary artists unable to secure exposure through mainstream channels.  Created by and for those described as “working diligently on the periphery of the greater art world”, Black Ball Projects’ charter is to support diversity in the production and display of art, noting the present inequalities in representation on the basis of gender, race and economic opportunity.  Black Ball Projects has thus far curated some 30 physical exhibitions and three online viewing rooms, the scope of which was expanded during the COVID-19 pandemic.  Black Ball Projects is funded by donations and sales of donated works from participating artists.  In 2019 it was officially declared a Non-Profit Arts Organization (501(c)(3)) and thus granted federal tax-exemption status.