In some agreement... According to an article on "color for developers" that was posted at some point on HN, one gets a better "pop" contrast if there is a smidgeon of color. As I read it, using white or black, regardless of the other color involved in the combo, is less effective. One should strive instead to add at least a little bit of color and contrast that color with the other. For example, if you toss a tiny bit of blue into your black, then you should toss a tiny bit of yellow/orange into your white. The contrast is not in symmetric values either; R, G, and B have different contributions to the brightness.

If I have the time to dig up the article I am thinking about, I will add it to this post.

(Here is the HN thread on the contrastrebellion site: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2807047)