color line

Also called color bar. social or political restriction or distinction based on differences of skin pigmentation, as between white and black people.

draw the color line, to observe a color line.

Origin of color line

An Americanism dating back to 1860–65

The problem of the Twentieth Century is the problem of the color-line.

The Negro in Literature and Art in the United States |Benjamin Brawley
Across the color-line I move arm in arm with Balzac and Dumas, where smiling men and welcoming women glide in gilded halls.

The Negro in Literature and Art in the United States |Benjamin Brawley
Wherever the discussion began it promptly shaded off toward the color-line and insult.

Mark Twain, A Biography, 1835-1910, Complete |Albert Bigelow Paine
The Roman Catholic Church deserves praise for its disregard of the color-line.

American Missionary, Volume 43, No. 2, February, 1889 |Various

The “discoverer” had been the bane of many a people—remember the color-line!

Mr. Oseba's Last Discovery |George W. Bell