Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. (US Und.) fellow criminals; also in sing.

1940

W.R. Burnett High Sierra in Four Novels (1984) 290: ‘Oh, hell, Roy,’ he went on, ’I keep forgetting you’re folks.’.

2. (US teen) one’s group of friends.

1896		G.F. Northall Warwickshire Word-Book 82: Folks. Friends.
1897		A.H. Lewis Wolfville 328: When Crawfish goes to cook, he dumps these folks [pet snakes] outen his clothes.
1905		J.W. Carr ‘Words from Northwest Arkansas’ in DN III:i 79: folks, n. Sweetheart. ‘I’m going to see my folks.’.
1931		A. Bontemps God Sends Sun. 189: Was I as black an’ ugly as you I’d waller wid de hogs ’stead o’ ’sociatin’ wid folkses.
1934		Z.N. Hurston Jonah’s Gourd Vine (1995) 14: Well, folks! Where you reckon dis big yaller bee-stung nigger come from?
1980		E. Folb Runnin’ Down Some Lines 237: folks 1. Black people.
1997		L. Pettiway Workin’ It 208: I really didn’t start hanging out with folks until I was about fourteen.
1999		R. Jacobs in San Jose Mercury News 11 May n.p.: Folks (n) – A group of buddies or friends who socialize together. I’m supposed to meet the folks after I finish my homework.
2002		‘Touré’ Portable Promised Land (ms.) 161: We Words (My Favorite Things) [...] Fam. Foin. Folk.