in the black

1. To be pushed out of the mainstream and into darkness; to push someone from the spotlight and into obscurity "Mr. Tomlinson found, after a series of public relations blunders and threatening remarks, that he was in the black and forgotten." 2. Existing in a forgotten or lost place, usually due to rejection or failure "Patrick's most recent book had failed. Whereas once he briefly enjoyed the spotlight, now he found himself quite in the black."