Why doesn't my text color change to white again?

Question

The picture's worth a thousand words.
I used a JLabel to create my GUI after adding the gradient background.
I used setPaint(gr) to change the color to the required gradient and then used setPaint(Color.white) again to change the color to white.
And then I use the setupGUI() to create the buttons n all you see.
However they are in gray and not white.
How do I make it white again

public class ScreenRecorder extends JFrame{
    public ScreenRecorder(){
        setupGUI();
        this.getContentPane().add(b);
        this.setDefaultCloseOperation(EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
        this.setVisible(true);
        this.setResizable(false);
        this.pack();
    }

    /*This method is used to add components into each other, setting layout, etc*/
    public void setupGUI(){
        play.setPreferredSize(new Dimension(24,24));
        Box controls = Box.createHorizontalBox();
        controls.add(play);
        controls.add(Box.createHorizontalStrut(10));
        controls.add(timerLabel);
        controls.add(Box.createHorizontalStrut(200));
        controls.add(locationLabel);
        b.add(controls);
    }
    /* Creating the gradient background */
    protected class Background extends JPanel{
        @Override
        protected void paintComponent(Graphics g){
            Graphics2D g2D = (Graphics2D) g;
            int w = this.getWidth();
            int h = this.getHeight();
            Color color1 = Color.black;
            Color color2 = Color.DARK_GRAY.brighter();
            GradientPaint gr = new GradientPaint(0,0,color1,0,w/2,color2);
            g2D.setPaint(gr); //Color changes to the gradient color
            g2D.fillRect(0, 0, w, h);
            g2D.setPaint(Color.white); //Color changes to white for JLabel, but doesn't actually change
        }
    }
    /*Creating the combined Play and Pause button using AbstractAction 
     * The displayed icon must change from that of play to pause on click and vice versa*/
    protected class PlayAction extends AbstractAction{
        public PlayAction(){
            this.putValue(AbstractAction.LARGE_ICON_KEY, playIcon);
            this.putValue(SHORT_DESCRIPTION, "Click to Record Video");
        }
        @Override
        public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e){
            if(isPlay == true){
                isPlay = false;
                play.getAction().putValue(LARGE_ICON_KEY, pauseIcon);
                play.getAction().putValue(SHORT_DESCRIPTION,"Click to Pause Recording");
                ScreenRecorder.this.setState(JFrame.ICONIFIED);
                play.repaint();
            }else{
                isPlay = true;
                play.getAction().putValue(LARGE_ICON_KEY, playIcon);
                play.getAction().putValue(SHORT_DESCRIPTION,"Click to Start Recording");
                play.repaint();
            }
        }
        boolean isPlay = true; //true represents recorder is ready, false means it is currently recording
        Icon playIcon = (Icon) new ImageIcon("src/images/play.png");
        Icon pauseIcon = (Icon) new ImageIcon("src/images/pause.png");
    }
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable(){
            @Override
            public void run(){
                new ScreenRecorder();
            }
        });
    }
    Background b = new Background();
    JButton play = new JButton(new PlayAction());
    JLabel timerLabel = new JLabel("00:00",JLabel.CENTER);
    JLabel locationLabel = new JLabel("Into: ",JLabel.LEFT);
}

Answer 1

Try

setColor(Color.white);

as well

The Graphics class defines only the setColor method to control the color to be painted. Since the Java 2D API extends the Color object to implement the new Paint interface, the existing setColor method is now a convenience method for setting the current Paint attribute to a Color object. setColor(c) is equivalent to setPaint(c).

Answer 2

import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.ActionEvent;
import javax.swing.*;

public class JavaGui129 extends JFrame{
    public JavaGui129(){
        setupGUI();
        this.getContentPane().add(b);
        this.setDefaultCloseOperation(EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
        this.setVisible(true);
        this.setResizable(false);
        this.pack();
    }

    /*This method is used to add components into each other, setting layout, etc*/
    public void setupGUI(){
        //play.setPreferredSize(new Dimension(24,24));
        Box controls = Box.createHorizontalBox();
        controls.add(play);
        controls.add(Box.createHorizontalStrut(10));
        // Red letter day..
        timerLabel.setForeground(Color.RED);
        controls.add(timerLabel);
        controls.add(Box.createHorizontalStrut(200));
        locationLabel.setForeground(Color.GREEN);
        controls.add(locationLabel);
        b.add(controls);
    }
    /* Creating the gradient background */
    protected class Background extends JPanel{
        @Override
        protected void paintComponent(Graphics g){
            // very important! 
            super.paintComponent(g);
            Graphics2D g2D = (Graphics2D) g;
            int w = this.getWidth();
            int h = this.getHeight();
            Color color1 = Color.black;
            Color color2 = Color.DARK_GRAY.brighter();
            GradientPaint gr = new GradientPaint(0,0,color1,0,w/2,color2);
            g2D.setPaint(gr); //Color changes to the gradient color
            g2D.fillRect(0, 0, w, h);
            // irrelevant now
            //g2D.setPaint(Color.white); //Color changes to white for JLabel, but doesn't actually change
        }

        @Override 
        public Dimension getPreferredSize() {
            return (new Dimension(400,100));
        }
    }
    /*Creating the combined Play and Pause button using AbstractAction 
     * The displayed icon must change from that of play to pause on click and vice versa*/
    protected class PlayAction extends AbstractAction{
        public PlayAction(){
            this.putValue(AbstractAction.LARGE_ICON_KEY, playIcon);
            this.putValue(SHORT_DESCRIPTION, "Click to Record Video");
        }
        @Override
        public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e){
            if(isPlay == true){
                isPlay = false;
                play.getAction().putValue(LARGE_ICON_KEY, pauseIcon);
                play.getAction().putValue(SHORT_DESCRIPTION,"Click to Pause Recording");
                JavaGui129.this.setState(JFrame.ICONIFIED);
                play.repaint();
            }else{
                isPlay = true;
                play.getAction().putValue(LARGE_ICON_KEY, playIcon);
                play.getAction().putValue(SHORT_DESCRIPTION,"Click to Start Recording");
                play.repaint();
            }
        }
        boolean isPlay = true; //true represents recorder is ready, false means it is currently recording
        Icon playIcon = (Icon) new ImageIcon("src/images/play.png");
        Icon pauseIcon = (Icon) new ImageIcon("src/images/pause.png");
    }
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable(){
            @Override
            public void run(){
                new JavaGui129();
            }
        });
    }
    Background b = new Background();
    JButton play = new JButton(new PlayAction());
    JLabel timerLabel = new JLabel("00:00",JLabel.CENTER);
    JLabel locationLabel = new JLabel("Into: ",JLabel.LEFT);
}