Epson printers are picky and will not let you print at all with any cartridge empty. (I think it's to encourage you to not leave it with any tank empty for an extended period, which can lead to permanent clogging.)
I am pretty sure Epson has keyed its cartridges anyway, such that they only fit in the correct slot. Besides, even if you could, the print driver wouldn't know about it, so it wouldn't use the misplaced black correctly anyway.
If you only print black and white, then it's not a good idea to have a color printer*. Black inks for color printers cost more than the black ink/toner for B&W printers. If you print B&W photos, replace this printer with one of the many HP models that can accept the grayscale cartridge (alongside the black-only one), which produces amazing black and white photos. If you aren't printing photos, get a laser printer. They're cheap these days and will save you print costs in the long run.
tooki
*Your color cartridges have probably been used up mostly by the self-cleaning that happens any time the printer hasn't been used for at least a day or so. Indeed, in color inkjet printers, color ink is used even if you never print in color.
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