Rastus
Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word Rastus. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word Rastus, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say Rastus in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word Rastus you have here. The definition of the word Rastus will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition ofRastus, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
See also: rastus
English
Etymology
Thought to be derived from Erastus. Despite paucity of actual usage, the name became associated with African-American men because of a character in the first Uncle Remus book by Joel Chandler Harris.
Proper noun
Rastus
- A male given name of American usage.
Noun
Rastus (plural Rastuses)
- (historical, now offensive) A stereotypical African American man, often a cheerful character in minstrel shows.
- 2016, Eva Lennox Birch, Black American Women's Writings, page 59:
- But neither did it turn them into Rastuses and Sambos; nor deprive their behaviour of logical and recognisable roots in the conditions of a regional culture whose impact had been distilled into Negro spirituals or the blues.
- 2019, Patricia H. Hoffman-Miller, Marlon James, Douglas Hermond, African American Suburbanization and the Consequential Loss of Identity, page 21:
- From the end of slavery to the period of the Civil Rights movement in the 1960s, ads in the U.S. continued to show blacks as Aunt Jemimas, Uncle Bens and Rastuses—individuals subservient to whites.