Douglas on the novelty of 'white'

Douglass clearly emphasized the novelty of the very description of people as white: “The word white is a modern term in the legislation of this country. It was never used in the better days of the Republic, but has sprung up within the period of our national degeneracy.” Frederick Douglass, 'The Kansas-Nebraska Bill' [1854], in The Life and Writings of Frederick Douglass, vol. 2, ed. Philip S. Foner (New York: International Publishers, 1950), p. 317.