The Weapon Identification Task (WIT; Payne, 2001) is a widely used tool for examining racial stereotypes. In this task, a prime × target interaction effect typically emerges: Participants misclassify tools as weapons more often when preceded by Black faces compared to White faces, and vice versa for weapons. This interaction has often been attributed to associations between Black individuals and danger or crime. However, our analysis revealed that the weapons used in previous studies were darker than the tools. To investigate whether brightness priming contributes to the prime × target interaction effect in the WIT, we conducted a series of studies. First, we demonstrated that brightness priming exists within the priming procedures and materials of the WIT. In three additional studies, we kept target brightness constant across conditions. Notably, when target brightness was kept constant, we observed either no interaction effect or a weaker effect compared to conditions using Payne's original materials. These findings suggest that the interaction effect typically observed in WIT studies may be at least partially attributable to brightness priming rather than solely to racial stereotypes. This research underscores the importance of considering perceptual features like brightness in studies of racial stereotypes.