color line
noun
variants
US color line
or British colour line
plural color lines
: a set of societal or legal barriers that segregates people of color from white people (as by restricting social interaction or requiring separate facilities) and prevents people of color from exercising the same rights and accessing the same opportunities as white people
—usually used with the
His father … had grown up in California with Jackie Robinson, who broke the color line in Major League Baseball.—
Maureen O'Donnell
Maureen O'Donnellcalled also color bar
Examples of color line in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Still, as the eugenics movement gained traction in the early 20th century, American lawmakers took steps to ensure that those deemed racially inferior didn’t surreptitiously cross the color line.
—Bryan Greene, Smithsonian Magazine, 19 Nov. 2024
Several scholars and students think that slave owners freed their slaves out of pure generosity, embracing the idea that enslaved people were part of the family of slaveholders, and that the color line didn’t exist in countries such as Brazil.
—Ana Lucia Araujo / Made By History, TIME, 4 Nov. 2024
Not until a Theatre Guild production in 1943 did Robeson break the color line in America, above the Mason-Dixon line at least, with Jose Ferrar as Iago, who stole the show, and Uta Hagen, taking something of a career risk, as Desdemona.
—Thomas Doherty, The Hollywood Reporter, 12 Oct. 2024
In the 1950s, Althea Gibson, the Grand Slam-winning tennis player, and the first Black woman to cross the color line of international tennis, was also a Shady Rest regular.
—Buffy Gorrilla, NPR, 25 Sep. 2024
The protagonist was based on the real-life heavyweight-champion boxer Jack Johnson, who winningly flouted the color line, in bed and in the ring.
—Lauren Michele Jackson, The New Yorker, 13 Sep. 2024
This launch comes on the heels of a clean professional hair color line, expansion into Asia and an upcoming Middle East expansion.
—Emily Burns, WWD, 9 Sep. 2024
More than a century later, South Africans have begun to understand that while the color line still matters, the poverty line has become more salient as the country has been dominated by a new multiracial group of economic insiders.
—Sisonke Msimang, Foreign Affairs, 19 Oct. 2021
In the early 1900s, W. E. B. Du Bois argued that the problem of the twentieth century would be the color line.
—Sisonke Msimang, Foreign Affairs, 19 Oct. 2021
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Bryan Greene, Smithsonian Magazine, 19 Nov. 2024
Several scholars and students think that slave owners freed their slaves out of pure generosity, embracing the idea that enslaved people were part of the family of slaveholders, and that the color line didn’t exist in countries such as Brazil.
—Ana Lucia Araujo / Made By History, TIME, 4 Nov. 2024
Not until a Theatre Guild production in 1943 did Robeson break the color line in America, above the Mason-Dixon line at least, with Jose Ferrar as Iago, who stole the show, and Uta Hagen, taking something of a career risk, as Desdemona.
—Thomas Doherty, The Hollywood Reporter, 12 Oct. 2024
In the 1950s, Althea Gibson, the Grand Slam-winning tennis player, and the first Black woman to cross the color line of international tennis, was also a Shady Rest regular.
—Buffy Gorrilla, NPR, 25 Sep. 2024
The protagonist was based on the real-life heavyweight-champion boxer Jack Johnson, who winningly flouted the color line, in bed and in the ring.
—Lauren Michele Jackson, The New Yorker, 13 Sep. 2024
This launch comes on the heels of a clean professional hair color line, expansion into Asia and an upcoming Middle East expansion.
—Emily Burns, WWD, 9 Sep. 2024
More than a century later, South Africans have begun to understand that while the color line still matters, the poverty line has become more salient as the country has been dominated by a new multiracial group of economic insiders.
—Sisonke Msimang, Foreign Affairs, 19 Oct. 2021
In the early 1900s, W. E. B. Du Bois argued that the problem of the twentieth century would be the color line.
—Sisonke Msimang, Foreign Affairs, 19 Oct. 2021
Dictionary Entries Near color line
Cite this Entry
“Color line.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/color%20line. Accessed 25 Dec. 2024.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share