Price said people should be more sensitive about resorting to racial stereotypes. Buttressing his argument, Price helpfully offered other examples: "So if its 'angel food cake,' it's white. If it's 'devil's food cake,' it's black. If you're the 'black sheep of the family,' then you gotta be bad, you know. 'White sheep,' you're OK . . . I'm OK if I'm 'bartering' with you . . But if I try to 'Jew you down,' oooooh. Is that racist? I thought it meant the same thing? No, maybe it doesn't."

Price is both hypersensitive and an idiot. Let's go at this point by point.

A black hole - described by Albert Einstein in his theory of relativity and expanded by others since then - is a region of empty space, possibly formed by the collapse of a star upon itself, so dense and of such great mass that it's gravitational pull allows nothing to escape, not even light. This has to do with darkness, not African-Americans.

His allusion to the expression "Jew you down" can only be a reference to religion or culture. Unlike "black holes" it has nothing do with the absence of light. It's based on the stereotype that Jews, as merchants, are skilled or crafty negotiators. If you believe the generalization is valid, it could variously be taken as an insult or a compliment. There's an old joke that the reason God created gentiles was so that there'd be someone who would buy at retail. It's funny precisely because there's a germ of truth in it.

To return to Price's other examples: angel food cake is white in color; devil's food cake is dark in color. The opposite of angel is devil, hence the name. It's not an insult. I happen to like devil's food cake better. Sheep are generally white. On rare occasions, a sheep is born black, which makes its wool less commercially desirable for dying. Nothing personal; it's just business. Metaphorically, a black sheep may be an outcast because it's different, not because it's black. The same treatment may befall animal or human albinos.

Price's persecution paranoia notwithstanding, black isn't always bad and white isn't always good. Black pearls are rare and more valuable than white ones. Oil is known as black gold. An item of little value and salability is said to be a white elephant. One shows weakness by waving a white flag. A can of Black Flag rescues you from menacing spiders and roaches. A profitable company is said to be in the black; an unprofitable one is in the red. I never thought of those financial terms as elevating blacks or denigrating American Indians. They're just colors.

Covering up a scandal is called a whitewash - a metaphor for a paint job - regardless of the race of those involved. When all the lights go out, it's a blackout; when you can't see your hand in front of your face during a blizzard, it's called a whiteout. Which one is better or worse? Blackhead and whitehead pimples are, apparently, equal opportunity blemishes. I remember the old commercial jingle, "You'll wonder where the yellow went, when you brush your teeth with Pepsodent." I don't recall that Asians took offense.

Descriptive terms and metaphors involving colors can be epithets or racist stereotypes but they can just as well be wholly innocent and appropriate. It helps if one has a frame of reference. I'd recommend that commissioner Price get a copy of Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Allusions, a guide to understanding "the creative and colorful references that add richness and vitality to our language."

Mike Rosen's radio show airs weekdays from 9 a.m. to noon on 850 KOA. He can be reached by e-mail at mikerosen@850koa.com.