: the quality or state of having or being a light (see lightentry 2 sense 2a) skin color
"As long as there's White racism, there will be racism within the Black community and favoritism for lightness." Midge Wilson
Elmore had a very fair complexion. And while he had never used the lightness of his skin to pass as white, the clerk who took his voter registration paperwork never asked the question. And just like that, George Elmore registered to vote. Antjuan Seawright