A Footer similar to the JR Footer on this site
Using Jamroom
Text color is usually used to emphasize/de-emphasize something, so going with a lighter gray on a dark background prevents it from being "distracting" to the viewer if they are viewing other text near the footer.
Most users don't look in the footer - if you are however, then you are likely looking for something specific (privacy policy, terms of service, etc.) so the lighter text isn't likely to deter you.
You can get the footer code from our site just by doing a "view source" - past that into your footer.tpl and adjust it to suit your needs.
Let me know if that helps.