white devil

Calque from Chinese 洋鬼子 (yángguǐzi, “Western devil”).

white devil (plural white devils)

1. (ethnic slur) A white person.

• Usage is normally ascribed to East Asian peoples.

• See Thesaurus:white person

Coined by Nation of Islam leader Elijah Muhammad, pluralizing the concept of the Devil in Islam to encompass all white people.^[1]

white devil (plural white devils)

1. (Nation of Islam, ethnic slur) A white person.
   • 1958, ELIJAH POOLE, was., Elijah Muhammad, Elijah Mohammed, Gulem Bogans, The Messenger of Allah, Elijah Muck Muck, The Prophet, Mohammed Rassoull, Chicago: Federal Bureau of Investigation, published 1982, page 11:

     He further stated that MUHAMMAD was the protector of all Muslims and that Allah, with the help of MUHAMMAD, will overthrow the white devils.

   • 1959 August 10, “RACES: The Black Supremacists”, in Time‎^[2], volume LXXIV, number 6, New York, N.Y.: Time Inc., →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 12 June 2025, page 25:

     For more than two hours, as shouts and applause rose in regular cadences, the scowling, incendiary speaker obliged by pouring out his scorn upon all “white devils,” “satisfied black men,” the “poison” Bible, Christianity’s “slave-master doctrine,” and America’s “white for white” justice.

   • 1963 April, August Meier, “The Black Muslims”, in Liberation, page 12:

     To them the Black Muslims have a program that makes sense, for it offers them four things: an explanation of their plight (white devils); a sense of pride and self-esteem (black superiority) ; a vision of a glorious future (black ascendancy) ; and a practical immediate program of uplift (working hard and joining together to create Negro enterprise and prosperity).

• See Thesaurus:white person