Why is Daffy Duck black?

Answer 1

Daffy may well be an American Black Duck (Anas rubripes), which would account for at least two of his principle features: he is black (by observation) and he is American (based on accent and location of most of his Cartoons). It does however confuse issues, as "duck" refers to the female of the species. "Drake" refers to the male. This gender malapropism is also evident for the other famous duck (Donald Duck) and cannot be resolved. On the other hand, Daffy appeared first in black and white cartoons where black was one of the three optional colours (Black, white and gray) used for all characters. Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Felix the Cat and Krazy Kat were assigned the same colour as Daffy; perhaps this may have been to make them more evident as the character to watch in the mostly white and gray scenes.

Thirdly, the other Ducks (Donald and Daisy and the nephews) had appropriated the white coloration and the studio may have wished to add some product differentiation by using black for Daffy.