Definition of "darkie"

In an intolerable sweetness, a contentment so deep that he was wistfully discontented, he saw magnolias by moonlight and heard plantation darkies crooning to the banjo.

1922, Sinclair Lewis, chapter 22, in Babbitt, New York, N.Y.: Harcourt, Brace and Company

My Dad has taught me that in England some foolish man may call me sambo, darkie, boot or munt or nigger, even.

1964 , Colin MacInnes, City of Spades, London: Penguin Books, page 22