Well, I’m sober and straight, and I agree. Of course, I’m also old, so it probably still doesn’t mean anything… 
A light-skinned black person. Somewhere between “red bone” and “damn-near-white”.
Someone who can pass the Jack and Jill’s kraft paper grocery bag test.
Mentioning that Jack & Jill is a grocery store chain.
A few years ago I wrote snopes regarding that (mythical) test. No reply.
Peace,
mangeorge
Not long ago there were some photos of Ms. Rice ice skating which were linked to on the SDMB. I don’t remember her hair, but she otherwise looked fine to me.
Not in the context of the reference.
Foreseeable Consequences of Recent Changes in the One-Drop Rule
Not that they do that anymore mind you.
Mythical? Is it? I’d always heard it related as a somewhat obscure historical fact. Might be worth posting a GQ on it.
Yes, the reference was to the grocery store chain. It’s about a grocery bag. That there happens to be a service organization also called Jack & Jill is irrelevant.
Google on “paper bag test.” It long predates Jack and Jill, and I don’t see where it has any connection to that organization.
While I appreciate that Jack & Jill is also a grocery store, I’m the one that made the reference about “Jack and Jill’s kraft paper grocery bag test”. I think I know what reference I intended even if (according to Mangetout) it’s historically questionable. Sorry for the confusion, and what may be an inaccurate historical reference.
I always was under the impression that Don King was a test pilot for the electric chair.
Just a “RED NECK OBSERVATION”
I don’t know that Jack & Jill used the brown paper bag test, but there were some organizations that did. I remember hearing about certain churches that restricted their membership to only those who were darker than a brown paper bag.
A teacher of mine once told the class about how Spellman College used to require photos of their applicants. Back in the day, preference was given to women who belonged to the “blue vein society”–people who had skin so light you could see their veins. Don’t know if it’s true, but it definitely is plausible.
[QUOTE=monstro]
I don’t know that Jack & Jill used the brown paper bag test, but there were some organizations that did. I remember hearing about certain churches that restricted their membership to only those who were darker than a brown paper bag.
[QUOTE]
Shoot. I mean “lighter than a brown paper bag”.
I always thought Don Kings mess was the result of him being a…
Test pilot for the Electric Chair!
What evidence is there that ethnically pure (whatever) West African men cannot grow big afros? Sounds like an urban myth to me.
Bonus points for including Jack & Jill, Don King and Michael Jackson’s whittled nose in your response.
Someone like Colin Powell, then. Right?
I meant for “mythical” to be a question. Forgot one little punctuation mark. Shoot me, but don’t ridicule me, OK! 
< smiley that means “just kidding”.
I did google the term back when I wrote snopes. A lot of “I heards” etc, but nothing official. Just like here, people who know of the test but no actual proof.
I suspect a balm for the “White Man’s Burden”.
Peace,
mangeorge
There has to be a term for this kind of “it must be an urban myth” skepticism. I assure you it’s not an urban myth or legend. It may not be true–I am not claiming to be an expert–but that does not mean I’m perpetuating some well-distributed lie.
Jack and Jill is a national organization for the children of monied and largely elitist black people. Some branches were historically just that restrictive and discriminatory, according to Lawrence Otis Graham’s book “Our Kind of People.” It is increasingly rare to experience that level of blatant intra-racial discrimination, but it still sometimes happen, both to dark-toned and light-toned African-Americans. These days you’re apt to run into more problems is you don’t seem “black enough” ideologically.
Diceman. To me, Colin Powell isn’t “high yella”-- more like “ginger-colored.”
Carnac. When I see pictures of people from Togo, Benin, Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon – black people, not just us mized folks in America – I don’t believe I’ve ever see anyone with both natural and tall hair. Modest sized afros? Sure. Big-assed afros? I’m leaning toward what monstro has said, though it may prove to be a generalization.