You quote Gandalf out of context. "Black" wasn't a reference to Sauron personally, it just meant "the bad guys."
How does Gandalf's refusal to use the Palantir indicate that he was less powerful than Sauron?
Gandalf observed certain rules that limited the power he could display in Middle-earth. I'll grant that he was not
more powerful than Sauron, but according to
Unfinished Tales Gandalf's spirit was equal to Sauron's in its beginning:
Quote:
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To the overthrow of Morgoth he sent his herald Eönwë. To the defeat of Sauron would he not then send some lesser [than Eönwë] (but mighty) spirit of the angelic people, one coëval and equal, doubtless, with Sauron in their beginnings, but not more? Olórin was his name. But of Olórin we shall never know more than he revealed in Gandalf.
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But your position is understandable. Gandalf himself downplayed his own power, even declaring Saruman to be the greatest of the Istari. In any case, Sauron could not be considered "far more powerful" than Gandalf.