Posted: Thu 24 May 2007 03:26 Post subject: The Brown Paper Bag Test
The antebellum Blue Vein Society of New Orleans, the late 1700s Brown Fellowship Soiciety of Charleston, a similar Club in Reconstruction era Nashville, and Jack and Jill of America in the 1950s all had brown paper bag rules. Specifically, according to historians who have studied these organizations, you would be admitted only if your skin tone was lighter than kraft paper. Recently, however, it has become harder and harder to find first-hand accounts of the brown paper bag test.
While researching U.S. colorism within the African-American community, Mary Lee stumbled across a recent account (not quite first hand, but close) of a person whose mother said that she had personally experienced such a thing in Brooklyn NY of the 1950s.
Quote:
My mom, who was fair, experienced it and shared the tale with me -- the brown paper bag test. [She was of American black, West Indian and Native American descent, among many other "spices."] Her exposure to the "test" occurred in the 1950s, while living in Brooklyn, NY, she was dating a young gentleman, who was brown-skinned. She was invited to a party in the neighborhood and brought her friend to the dance. At the door, the host leaned in to my mother and said that he could not be admitted with her. She was upset and asked to step inside to discuss the matter. The host was uncomfortable that my mom didn't get the "secret signal", but brought her in (while he waited outside), and was told point blank "He doesn't pass the brown paper bag test." He was too dark, and there was to be none of that going on at this party. Needless to say, my mom -- and her date -- left that party, embarrassed and hurt.
The existence of such organizations and the "brown paper bag test" is a topic that comes up from time to time on Mulatto.org. Some of them contest the existence of such organizations for a variety of reasons, but most notably is the belief that the possibility of its existence gives fuel to the fire that a mulatto identity is possibly dangerous or divisive to the black community and present day mulatto-identified people wish to recreate the kinds of organizations listed in the article.
In my experience I’ve mostly heard rumors of such organizations or the existence of such organizations from people who had older relatives who were members; outside of Jack and Jill, which hasn’t been explicitly colorist in recent times (my sister was a member), none of these organizations FS listed are extant.
BTW, there is a documentary called “Zydeco”, which was made in 1984. It’s about the Creole culture and community of Southwest Louisiana. In the documentary, there’s an interview with the owner of a bar/night club in Opaloosa, LA in which he claimed such an organization existed in his pariah. He had a banner with the name of the organization and a circle of members’ photographs bordering the banner. The latest photos appeared to be from the early 30s. The organizations name was in French as well as the members’ names. Incidentally, the interviewee, like many of the people interviewed, spoke English as a second language.
The interviewee claimed that one had to be Creole, light, and have “good hair” in order to be allowed into their social gatherings, and there were various “tests” to determine the coarseness of someone’s hair.
The existence of such organizations and the "brown paper bag test" is a topic that comes up from time to time on Mulatto.org. Some of them contest the existence of such organizations for a variety of reasons, but most notably is the belief that the possibility of its existence gives fuel to the fire that a mulatto identity is possibly dangerous or divisive to the black community and present day mulatto-identified people wish to recreate the kinds of organizations listed in the article.
That reminds me of Bishop Wilberforce's wife who, upon hearing of Darwin's theory of natural selection, said to her husband, "Descended from an ape? Let us hope that it's not true, but if it is, let us pray that it will not become generally known." People who reject factual reality because some things are better left unknown (or at least unpublished) always strike me as funny and a little sad.
G-Man wrote:
In my experience I’ve mostly heard rumors of such organizations or the existence of such organizations from people who had older relatives who were members; outside of Jack and Jill, which hasn’t been explicitly colorist in recent times (my sister was a member), none of these organizations FS listed are extant.
Yes. My impression is the same. That is probably why it is getting harder and harder to find first-hand accounts.
My sorority, Alpha Kappa Alpha, inc., is one of the Black American greek organizations that was rumored to screen pledges based on color/hair texture. Even today the organization has the reputation of being elitist and colorist, whereas sororities like Delta Sigma Theta and Zeta Phi Beta do not get that rap. It's possible that most if not all of the organizations in the Black greek system were colorist in their early years.
I am quite sure that paper bag tests were performed at the chapter level throughout AKA's nearly 100 year history, yet several of the founding members of the organization wouldn't have passed the test. Could that mean that the rule was "off the books" rather than official? If so, colorism is hard to prove.
Part of the reason I believe that these policies/behaviors are hard to prove in large organizations is that they can take on a life of their own at the local level, far away from the reach of headquarters. Similarly to hazing, which is illegal but is still very much a part of Black greek tradition at the university and graduate chapter level, paper bag tests may be conducted in locations/chapters where old colorist values are shared.
It is interesting Sag, but I remember a conversation I had with a black girl from Atlanta who informed me that most of the major black sororities on a paritcular campus where composed primarily of colored women rather than blacks, from a purley physical perspective. I remember being both shocked and at the same time pleasantly satisfied, not because of the descrimination ( which is disgusting ) but because it confirmed my untill then, unsubstantiated belief that black mulattos were using their physiognomy to establish themselves as elites within the black community. This is an accusation made by AD powell, but I wasn't able to read her book in which she provides evidence so I had no way of knowing if it was really true.
Posted: Sun 27 May 2007 14:01 Post subject: "Paper bag" test
I believe the "paper bag" test is a legend that was probably created by those opposed to "mulatto elite" clubs. First, there are no original sources stating that a "paper bag" criteria for membership existed. All the "evidence" seems to be second-hand or hearsay, or relates events in which young people used the "paper bag" story as a party gag. Second, what is so special about a paper bag? I suspect the story about combing the hair to find kinks was borrowed from South Africa's infamous apartheid race classification tests.
Look, let's say that you have a club in which nearly all the members are "mulatto elite" but publicly call themselves a better class of "Negroes" or "blacks." Such clubs certainly existed. But it seems to me that they would approach membership in the way that Latin Americans usually dealt with "race." If you're too dark, money and/or professional status will whiten you. If you are very white, you can get by with less money and/or professional status. That's the way the real world works. Even "white" authorities would have to sometimes let people darker than a paper bag into the "white race" - Mexicans are an example, as well as some Asians, Southern Europeans and Middle Eastern people.
Joined: 20 Oct 2006 {Posts: 283 } Location: Akron, Ohio
Posted: Mon 28 May 2007 05:30 Post subject:
Our Kind of People by Lawence Graham, January, 2000 talks about Jack and Jill, of which he was a member, Links, Deltas, Boulé and AKAs. In his book he says he has first hand experience with the 'brown paper bag and ruler test' on page 17. This was in his first year at Harvard Law School. (I didn't see what year that was).
Posted: Mon 28 May 2007 06:22 Post subject: Paper Bag Myth
Quote:
All the "evidence" seems to be second-hand or hearsay, or relates events in which young people used the "paper bag" story as a party gag.
I believe that Graham is referring to a fraternity party gag. That doesn't count. One could arrange a party with a "Camelot and King Arthur" theme. That wouldn't prove that Camelot and King Arthur existed.
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