Operation Black Buck

During the 1982 Falklands War, Operations Black Buck 1 to Black Buck 7 were a series of seven extremely long-range ground attack missions by Royal Air Force Vulcan bombers of the RAF Waddington Wing, comprising aircraft from 44 Squadron, 50 Squadron, 101 Squadron planned against Argentine positions in the Falkland Islands, of which five missions actually completed attacks on the Falklands. The objectives of all missions were to attack Port Stanley airfield and its associated defences.

The Operation Black Buck raids were staged from RAF Ascension Island, close to the equator. The aircraft carried either twenty-one 1,000 lb bombs internally or two or four Shrike anti-radar missiles externally. The overall effect of the raids on the war is difficult to determine. The raids did minimal damage to the runway and damage to radars was quickly repaired. Commonly dismissed as post-war propaganda, Argentine sources originally claimed that the Vulcan raids influenced Argentina to withdraw some of their Dassault Mirage III fighter aircraft from the Southern Argentina Defence Zone to the Buenos Aires Defence Zone. This dissuasive effect was however watered down when British officials made clear that there would be no strikes on air bases in Argentina. It has been suggested that the Black Buck raids were pressed home by the Royal Air Force because the British armed forces had been cut in the late seventies and the RAF may have desired a greater role in the conflict to prevent further cuts.

Blackbuck

The blackbuck (Antilope cervicapra) is an ungulate species of antelope native to the Indian subcontinent that has been listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List since 2003, as its range has decreased sharply during the 20th century. The native population is stable, with an estimated 50,000 individuals as of 2001.

Taxonomy and evolution

The scientific name of the blackbuck is Antilope cervicapra. It was first described by Swedish zoologist Carl Linnaeus in the 10th edition of Systema Naturae in 1758. The blackbuck is the sole extant species of the genus Antilope. Its generic name stems from the Latin word antalopus, a horned animal. The specific name cervicapra is composed of the Latin words capra, she-goat and cervus, deer.

A 1997 study found lower protein polymorphism in Antilope in comparison with Antidorcas, Eudorcas and Gazella. This was attributed to a history of rapid evolution of an autapomorphic phenotype of Antilope. This might have been aided by a particularly strong selection of a few dominant males due to its lekking behaviour.

Black Buck

For the mammal, see Blackbuck. For the RAF operation, see Operation Black Buck.

In post-Reconstruction United States, Black Buck was a racial slur used to describe a certain type of African American men. In particular, the caricature was used to describe black men who absolutely refused to bend to the law of white authority and were irredeemably violent, rude, and lecherous.

Background

According to popular stereotypes during the post-Reconstruction era, "Black Buck" was a black man (usually muscular or tall) who defies white will and is largely destructive to American society. He is usually hot-tempered, excessively violent, unintelligent, and sexually attracted to white women. Most often, any attempt to restrain, reprimand, or re-educate the individual will fail, necessitating the individual's immediate execution (usually by lynching).

Examples in media

D.W. Griffith's Birth of a Nation is perhaps one of the most well-known examples of the use of the "Black Buck" stereotype in the media. In the film, a former slave named Gus (described by the filmmaker as "a renegade, a product of the vicious doctrines spread by the carpetbaggers") attempts to chase down (and, apparently, rape) a white woman named Flora.