Apparently, it DOES matter if you're black or white.

Scientific American published a great article that explains why the Good Guys wear white hats, and the Bad Guys wear black.

Using a test based on the "Stroop Effect" (you know the one, where the word "Blue" is written in purple, and you have to name the color, not the word) they wrote morality-related words like "greed" and "cheater" in black and white, and then had subjects read them aloud, gauging reaction time to determine if they instantly linked black thoughts to black colors.

The results are pretty amazing:

"And they did, so quickly that the connections could not possibly be deliberate...Just as we unthinkingly—almost unconsciously—“know” a lemon is yellow, we instantly know that sin and crime are black and that grace and virtue are white."

"Why would this intrinsic association exist? One possibility is that the metaphor is more complex, embodying not just right and wrong but purity and contagion, too. Think of the metaphor “new-fallen snow.” It is not only white, it is also virginal and unadulterated, like a wedding dress. And blackness not only discolors it, it stains it, taints its purity.

This result offers pretty convincing evidence in itself that the connection between black and bad is not just a metaphor we all have learned over the years, but rather it is deeply associated with our ancient fear of filth and contagion."

The researchers also tested that moral fastidiousness is often linked to an intensive attention to personal hygiene. The article also tentatively mentions the implications such a study would have on understanding racism.

It really makes you think about instinct v. environment.

Im curious to know the age range of the sample subjects. While kids might be more open-minded, their moral compasses are pretty North/South. Hell, even as a kid I understood that Snidely Whiplash wore all black because he was the bad guy.

At the same time, the older you get, the more moral "grey areas" turn up, giving you a broader understanding of "good" and "evil" concepts.