I'm working in my darkroom today, and it just occurred to me... why aren't
easels black? Surely, some light from the enlarger passes through the
translucent paper and scatters back degrading image sharpness.... or ...
what?

A friend of mine uses a dye sub printer and prints all his images (both
color &b/w) on silk. He then stretcher mounts these similar to a canvas
mount.
Does anyone know how archival the images will be printed on this silk