It was just out of fashion for a while. I remember it being used in the 1930s for the Chinese café owner in town (the sole Chinese family in town). There were no Blacks.

According to the Oxford Dictionary, it was first used in the 18th C.

(One of the children sold me two white rats for a nickel when I was in the second grade. A bit later, I suckered and bought a cat from him. I think the cat was feral; it was very independent.)