color line

American  

[kuhl-er lahyn] / ˈkʌl ər ˌlaɪn /

noun

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

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idioms

1. draw the color line, to observe a color line.

Etymology

Origin of color line

An Americanism dating back to 1860–65

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

color line

Robinson broke baseball’s color line and led the Brooklyn Dodgers to the World Series.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 30, 2026

The episode belongs to a much longer lineage of banned books about race and the color line in the South and other parts of the country.

From Salon ● May 31, 2026

This is the moment for us to lean into solidarity — to learn from our shared history of struggling for a better society and democracy on both sides of the color line.

From Salon ● Feb. 1, 2026

When Jackie Robinson entered the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962, his informational plaque didn’t mention that he had broken baseball’s color line.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 10, 2025

They would no sooner question the color line than they would the concept of heaven and hell or the fact that man must earn his bread by the sweat of his brow.

From "The Best of Enemies" by Osha Gray Davidson