brownskin, adj. — Green’s Dictionary of Slang

brownskin adj.

1. (US) used of a Native American.

1877		Virginia Law Jrnl 1 436: Her father was a white man, [and] her mother was also by a white man, out of a brownskin woman.
1898		Indian Advocate (OK) 1 Apr. 59/2: The soldiers, while rough and overbearing toward their ‘brownskin’ allies, were yet unable to protect them from [...] their enemies.

2. (US black) used of an African American, esp. dark-skinned.

1922		Pinkard [song title] That Brownskin Flapper.
1931		A. Bontemps God Sends Sun. 156: ‘De brown-skinned gal ’cross yonder,’ Nappy pointed—‘is she yo company?’.
1949		Monteleone Criminal Sl. (rev. edn) 34: brown-skin baby A young negress.
1951		L. Brown Iron City 216: That’s my gal, a brownskin Geogia peach.
1964		in B. Jackson Get Your Ass in the Water (1974) 137: I fell in love with a brown-skin girl / who carried my heart for a whirl.
1974		in B. Jackson Get Your Ass in the Water 10: I fell in love with a brown skin girl that carried my heart for a whirl.
1999		‘Master Pimp’ Pimp’s Rap 6: I had spotted a dark brown skin sexy sister who was putting it on thick.
2014		Young Jeezy ‘Me OK’ 🎵 A brown skin thang, swear to God, she look like Kelly.

In compounds

brownskin whitefolks (n.)

(US black) individuals whose skins are not absolutely ‘white’ and are thus seen as ‘white’ by non-blacks, but ‘black’ by blacks.

1980

J.L. Gwaltney Drylongso xv: Brown-skin white-folks – people who are publicly reckoned as white by the Euro-Americans, but who are considered to be nonwhite by black people. [Ibid.] 92: When they gits over here they play brown-skin whitefolks.