What is a high brown though? It’s the term used to describe someone, usually a woman, who is negro by race, but fair skinned, light complexion, and not darker than a brown paper bag.
In the old days they used to be referred to as mulatto, quadroon or quarteron. In England they were referred to as half-caste. In old Jamaica they were called red Ibo because they resembled the Ibo tribe of Nigeria who were light brown.
Some areas of Jamaica had a high density of brown, mixed race people. This was due to the heavy preponderance of white people who settled in those areas and co-habited with the locals.
ESTEEM
Back in the 1960s in the United States, the phrase used to be, “If you’re white you’re all right, if you’re black step back, but if you’re brown stick around.”
High browns are sometimes held in higher esteem than people of different hues. And it’s not a race thing either, for men who prefer brown women rarely choose a Caucasian, Chinese, Indian or any other woman.
There’s something about the brown skin that attracts him, perhaps in the same way some men prefer fat, slim, tall or short women.
The women all aspire to have beautiful brown babies, so they co-habit with light skinned men to put a little cream in the coffee. Nature has its own agenda though.
One child may be born brown, while the other is dark, raising eyebrows and causing problems, as the father may suspect paternity irregularity. Sometimes the mother may even curse the darker child.
DOWNSIDE
But there are downsides to being brown. For one, a high brown dares not criticize or berate anyone for bleaching their skin, for the backlash will be swift and severe.
I have heard tales of girls in high school who endured hell, getting a hard time from their peers simply because of their brown skin. One said she was trying to study and some other girls were making so much noise that she found it impossible. She quietly asked them to tone it down. Their response was swift and savage: “Is just because you brown and have pretty eye why you talking to us like that, move and go way.”
On the streets, high browns are harassed far more than any other women.
Even folk songs have been made about brownings.
“Brown skin gal stay home and mind baby”
“There’s a brown girl in the ring, tralalalala.”
True, brown skinned people seemed to have gotten a pass in our history. This continued into the modern day workplace where high browns were put on the front page with jobs like receptionists, hotel front desk staff and such.
Brown men don’t get the same props as brown women though, except maybe to put a little milk in the coffee.
