African or Black: What Race are you?

While discussing the issue of black and white peices in Chess and the significance of the colours of the forces being such opposites, my friend and I agreed that it is necessary for this "war-game" that the enemy forces are easily identifiable as such- opposites-enemies.
Our discussion ended up leading us to wonder how we Africans ever came to be known as black people while our erstwhile counter-parts (colonisers) came to be known as whites. Black and white being stark opposites like darkness and light: one is identified with good while the other with bad; the one is identified with cleanliness while the other with dirt. It has been suggested by some philosophers (St. Augustine) while elaborating on how evil does not exist as it is merely an absence of good, he used the example of darkness being merely the absence of light. Thus suggesting that darkness is a none-thing, it is light which is an actual reality and darkness signifying its lack. A similar claim is made in science where it is stated that light is an energy and it is measurable while darkness cannot be traced and only exists in the absence of light. How is it then that Africans became known as black people and caucasions known as white people? Is it possible that we were so-called just for the purpose of setting us apart from the colonial rulers at the time? Is it possible that our colonisers were responsible for the "black" label that became attached to us to sort of signify that we are nothing without them?
I wonder if there was a time in history just before colonisation that Africans were just that, Africans or rather identified using their tribes?

I remember in Shakespearean literature, characters of African descent were referred to as moors, particularily in Othello where Othello himself is labelled a "moor". Even in the Shakespearean play we can sense that this is neither an affectionate nor an endearing term used to regard the race, it is filled so much with "otherness" and rather used to highlight differences than to appreaciate the other. Quoting act 1, scene 1, line 99 as Lago addresses Brabantio, Desdimona's father regarding Desdimona and Othello's affair:

3	I,1,99	Iago. 'Zounds, sir, you're robb'd; for shame, put on your gown; Your heart is burst, you have lost half your soul; Even now, now, very now, an old black ram Is topping your white ewe. Arise, arise; Awake the snorting citizens with the bell, Or else the devil will make a grandsire of you: Arise, I say.

 We also learn further that the term "moor" was mainly reserved for the non-caucasions espeacially those that ruled Spain and Portugal between the years 700AD and 1400. The moors refered to included various groups of African and Arab nationalities who were Muslim by faith  and were largely responsible for the civilisation of Europe bringing in infrastructural development and sanitanion "Their significant contributions in mathematics, astronomy, art, and agriculture helped propel Europe out of the Dark Ages and into the Renaissance. " (AfricanHolocaust.net)
The moors brought Europe out of the dark ages by bringing enlightenment in Sciensce, Mathematics, Art and commerce but I doubt those sentiments are captured in the term "moor". In fact it is said that the term is derogatory in nature and as such, the people referred to as Moors never used the term in referring to themselves in their own literature (which conveniently enough is very limited).

We also learn that in the 16 Century a new word originating from the Latin word for "black" is used to refer to people of African descent: that word is nigger and it has, and still is up to this point, been regarded as the most derogatory term to use especially to refer to "black" people. In light of this, it is quite absurd that we would be offended when referred to as "black" only when it is said in a different language but be okay with it when it is said in the English language. Are we against the Latin language or the colour (label) black?

Growing up I used to think we were called black people because we had a really dark skin tone and thus we were so labelled in referrence to our skin colour. I have grown to learn that such cannot be the case since the people referred to as black range from the darkest of skin tones to the lightest, and almost pale, skin tones. Also, the dark skin tone is not necessarilly reserved for Africans, it is also found in other nationalities such as the Indians and other Asian nationalities but they are not referred to as "black" people (except in South Africa where, since apartheid, black means non-white). The hair colour cannot be the reason either because people with black hair are found the world over. Could it be then that our continent, Africa,  is considered a "Dark" continent: Unenlightened and still stuck in the dark ages? Or is it that the inhabitants of the African continent are so powerless that they cannot even control what labels are put on them by those controlling their resourses?

I fail to understand the contestation against "black" people being refered to as Africans given that the people living in Asia are Asians, those in America are Americans, those in Europe are Europeans and can all be racially identified (or classified). Even more to the point, those from India are Indians and those from Japan are Japanesse etc. and when one speaks of a Japanesse, we have an idea of the people referred to without conjuring up any negative stereo-types associated to the race.

So I ask, why are we okay being referred to as "black" people knowing the negativity associated with the colour black especially since it means "nigger" in Latin? Are we not Africans? I believe the term "black" as used to refer to the people of African descent should be met with the same contempt when used in English as when used in Latin.
We cannot as a people be accepting to being defined and labelled by our lack or by any lack whatsoever. We also cannot accept being labelled by a singular trait found in  some of us as it cannot define our whole race. We are not "black" people for any reason whatsoever, we are African. The claim that there are other races that are at home in Africa cannot hold as an objection to us being referred to as Africans, they too can be referred to as European-Africans or Asian-African just as our brothers and sisters of African descent found in other continents are known as African-America or African-Europeans for example. A Tsonga man is not a black man, he is an African man from the Tsonga tribe and calling him "black" ought to be considered derogatory. It is better when your label traces your origins and embodies your history rather than it becoming an insult. This "black" label as used on African people is tantamount to calling an extremely dark person "m'nyamane"  or "Blackie" as we used to call black dogs as kids and it should be frowned upon.
That is just my view, it would be interesting hearing what you think.

<script data-ad-client="ca-pub-1945240122822914" async src="https://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js"></script>

Some references

 http://www.opensourceshakespeare.org/views/plays/characters/charlines.php?CharID=brabantio&WorkID=othello&cues=1

https://africanholocaust.net/moors-black-history-or-black-mythology/