Green’s Dictionary of Slang

(US black) a light-complexioned African American individual.

1945		C. Himes If He Hollers 28: He was a tall, rawboned, merriney-looking Negro with kinky reddish hair and brown freckles.
1971		B. Short (con. 1930s) Black and White Baby 37: We called William ‘Pie-Face’ Carr, because he had a pale, freckled complexion and reddish hair. He was what colored people also called a ‘Me-rye-nee.’ The word is Negro slang, and I'm spelling it phonetically because I've never seen it written down, but old-timers explain it as a derivation of ‘Merino,’ a breed of sheep with thick curly coats.