Sentence:  The bank which held the mortgage on the old church declared that the interest was considerably in arrears , and the real estate <WSD>people</WSD> said flatly that the land across the river was being held for an eventual development for white working people who were coming in , and that none would be sold to colored folk . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  (plural) any group of human beings (men or women or children) collectively