Green’s Dictionary of Slang

(US black) a pale skinned black person, esp. one who has Native American blood.

[1891		Amer. Historical Association Papers V 466: At one time the Croatans were known as ‘Redbones,’ and there is a street in Fayetteville so called [DARE]].
1913		Lumberjack (Alexandria, LA) 10 Apr. 1/2: ‘Emerson is nothihg but a damned Redbone, anyhow, and a good Redbone is a dead Redbone’.
1951		(con. 1930s) S. Longstreet Pedlocks (1971) 345: Look at the octoroons, griffes, and redbones among us. It’s bad. But hire more niggers.
1972		D. Claerbaut Black Jargon in White America 77: redbone n. a black female with light skin color.
1983		I.L. Allen Lang. of Ethnic Conflict 46: Color Allusions, Other than ‘Black’ and ‘Negro’: [...] redbone [fem.].
1996		L. Pettiway Honey, Honey, Miss Thang 115: Redbone . . . light skin people, always thought they were cute.
2005		G. Pelecanos Drama City 77: For a while, he was fucking that redbone.
2012		‘Dutch’ ? (Pronounced Que) [ebook] A badass redbone named Melody.