Green’s Dictionary of Slang

(US) derog. term for a black person.

[1894		Truth (Sydney) 9 Dec. 4/6: When a well-connected scoundrel succeeds in butchering an unfortunate victim [...] the Press [...] announces that the murderer is believed to be insane. When a similar plea is urged on behalf of a moleskin murderer, the humanw prints denounce it as mawkish sentiment].
1992		D. Pinckney High Cotton (1993) 140: I would come to no good among the no accounts, burrheads, shines, smokes, charcoals, dinges, coons, monkeys, jungle bunnies, jigaboos, spagingy-spagades, moleskins, California rollers, Murphy dogs, and diamond switchers.