High yellow, occasionally simply yellow (dialect: yaller, yeller), is a (sometimes derogatory) term for very light-skinned persons of Black descent. It is a reference to the golden yellow skin tone of some mixed-race people. The term was in common use in the United States at the end of the 19th century and the early decades of the 20th century, and appears in many popular songs of the era, such as "The Yellow Rose of Texas".

"High" is usually considered a reference to a social class system in which skin color is a major factor, placing those of lighter skin at the top and those of darker skin at the bottom.^{[citation needed]} High yellows, while still considered part of the African American class, were considered by many^{[by whom?]} to be at the top of that class. "Yellow" is in reference to the usually very pale yellow undertone to the skin color of members of this group, often due to admixture with Europeans. Another reading of the etymology of the word "high" is that it is a slang word for "very," often used in Southern English, therefore "very yellow" (as opposed to brown).