There'
s nothing derogatory about being High yellow. It has nothing to do with
jealousy of darker complexioned blacks, or
bi-racials who think they are better then others. Not all light skinned black people are biracial, though most have white somewhere in their lineages, both their
parents can be black and still be born light
skin.
It just refers to black people, who tend to have lighter complexions with "yellow" undertones. When buying make up, the women have to look for makeup with a yellowish tint to it, rather then a red tint.
Just like how some Asians have a yellowish under tone, so do these blacks.
The alternative is a "Red Bone" a lighter complexioned black who has more of a red undertone to their
skin, like Indians and
white people.
Black people come in a variety of different shades and colors. Even darker complexioned blacks have a red or yellowish undertone to them, but it's just more visible in lighter
skin.
High Yellow, High Yella, High Yeller refer to one variation of black coloring. It's not derogatory nor if a person calls themselves "high yellow" does it mean they are high saddity or think they are better then other blacks.
If a black persons
skin looks more like an Indians
skin, they are red bone.
If it looks more like an Asians
skin, they are high yellow. It's as simple as that