The brown paper bag test was a form of discrimination that lighter-skinned Black people used to exclude dark-skinned Black people from their social and professional circles. This test didn’t come out of nowhere. It’s rooted in a deeply racist history.
The brown paper bag test originated in the “one drop” rule. Before the Civil War, anyone with a drop of African blood was considered Black. Not only did racist whites live by this rule, but Black people internalized this self-hatred.
Black churches, fraternities, sororities, and social clubs used the brown paper bag test to decide who should and shouldn’t be members. It’s an unfortunate form of colorism that is intended to divide us, but it doesn’t have to.
We cannot let any form of white supremacist hatred divide us, and set us against each other. Even if we are not comparing each other’s skin to brown paper bags anymore, we still have to reject the colorist mindset behind it.
Anti-Blackness in all forms is the enemy of Black liberation. At the end of the day, Black people must work together and love each other to get the liberation that we deserve.