Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. (US black) a black person; esp. as a generic term for blackness or a number of black people gathered together.

1961		C. Himes Pinktoes (1989) 17: You must figure all us black cats knows is somebody called Smokey.
1962		P. Crump Burn, Killer, Burn! 321: ‘Smokey is here,’ announced a cigar-smoking, pudgy, soot-black Negro.
1983		I.L. Allen Lang. of Ethnic Conflict 47: Color Allusions, Other than ‘Black’ and ‘Negro’: […] smoke [1920s. Also smokey, -y, and smokey-joe].

2. (US black, also smokey the fire bear) a derog. term for a dark-complexioned black person.

1940		E.F. Frazier Negro Youth 100: Some of the youth in Louisville told stories of fights in school because the darker children were called ‘black’ or ‘smoky’.
1980		E. Folb Runnin’ Down Some Lines 30: Expressions like [...] blue gum, smokey, and smokey the fire bear are used both playfully and pointedly to characterize extreme blackness.

3. (US campus) a policeman.

1975		L. Dills CB Slanguage 37: Envelope: unmarked police car [...] ‘There’s a smoky in a blue envelope.’.
1977		Eble Campus Sl. Apr. 4: smokies – highway patrolmen, police.
1989		P. Benchley Lush 39: This smokey pulls me over, and he does a double take when he sees this rabbit driving a BMW.
1993		Eble Campus Sl. Oct. 4: pig – police officer. Also smoky.

4. (N.Z.) a derog. term for a Maori.

1984

Landfall 150 177: Men from the Canterbury Plains snigger in the bar at night when the smokeys are asked to leave but those dark locals hear only what they want [DNZE].

5. see smoke n. (8)