ABSTRACT
The discourse around the hashtags #TeamLightSkin and #TeamDarkSkin are evidence that America is neither post-racial or post-colorism despite the fact that some might point to the re-election of President Barack Obama as evidence of a post-racial America. However, in the digital realm of social media, tweets that demean dark-skinned African Americans and praise people of color with a lighter skin tone circulate heavily. Which is to say, “the brown paper bag” test, or practice of preferring Black people whose skin is lighter than a brown paper bag is now digital. The snow and blow detector, which gauges skin as white as snow and hair that is fine enough to blow in the wind, exists in cyberspace. The “blue vein” blues of colorism, the old practice of admitting African Americans into organizations if their skin was light enough to show blue veins, are recycled at lighting speed through social media, especially Twitter and are found in the prevalence of the hashtags: #TeamLightSkin and #TeamDarkSkin.
