Prejudice against dark-skinned students at Howard alleged in earlier years
From the founding of Howard University in 1866 as a premier college for black scholars until the civil-rights movement of the 1960s, "strong color prejudice" against darker-skinned black students was commonplace at the institution, writes Audrey Elisa Kerr, an associate professor of English at Southern Connecticut State University.
Drawing largely on oral history, Ms. Kerr traces color prejudice -- "or the belief in color prejudice" -- at Howard back to the 1887 election of a valedictorian for the institution's medical school. As she tells it, the small number of white students enrolled at Howard at the time nominated "a fair-complexioned" black man who could not be distinguished from white. Black students protested that the nominee's complexion was "too light," and nominated instead someone who "white and fair students" said was too dark. The issue was referred to the faculty, which chose a woman who identified herself as white.
Complexion became a factor for membership in campus organizations, says Ms. Kerr. According to several student accounts that she provides, certain sororities subjected their pledges to skin-color tests. In the "paper bag" test, for instance, a pledge's skin tone was compared to a brown paper bag. If her skin was darker than the bag, she was not admitted.
"Colorism" also played a role in the admissions process, says Ms. Kerr. She notes how, during the early 20th century, it was customary for students to attach pictures of themselves to their applications. "The common legend," she writes, "was that a prospective student's skin tone was 'evaluated' and was a key factor in whether or not one would be accepted."
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Drawing largely on oral history, Ms. Kerr traces color prejudice -- "or the belief in color prejudice" -- at Howard back to the 1887 election of a valedictorian for the institution's medical school. As she tells it, the small number of white students enrolled at Howard at the time nominated "a fair-complexioned" black man who could not be distinguished from white. Black students protested that the nominee's complexion was "too light," and nominated instead someone who "white and fair students" said was too dark. The issue was referred to the faculty, which chose a woman who identified herself as white.
Complexion became a factor for membership in campus organizations, says Ms. Kerr. According to several student accounts that she provides, certain sororities subjected their pledges to skin-color tests. In the "paper bag" test, for instance, a pledge's skin tone was compared to a brown paper bag. If her skin was darker than the bag, she was not admitted.
"Colorism" also played a role in the admissions process, says Ms. Kerr. She notes how, during the early 20th century, it was customary for students to attach pictures of themselves to their applications. "The common legend," she writes, "was that a prospective student's skin tone was 'evaluated' and was a key factor in whether or not one would be accepted."