Rastus is a pejorative term traditionally associated with
African Americans
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
. It is considered offensive.
History
"Rastus" has been used as a stereotypical, often derogatory, name for
black men
Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have o ...
at least since 1880, when
Joel Chandler Harris
Joel Chandler Harris (December 9, 1848 – July 3, 1908) was an American journalist, fiction writer, and folklorist best known for his collection of Uncle Remus stories. Born in Eatonton, Georgia, where he served as an apprentice on a planta ...
included a black deacon named "Brer Rastus" in the first
Uncle Remus
Uncle Remus is the fictional title character and narrator of a collection of African American folktales compiled and adapted by Joel Chandler Harris and published in book form in 1881. Harris was a journalist in post-Reconstruction era Atlanta, a ...
book. However, Rastus (a shortening of Erastus, the Greek name of, especially,
Erastus of Corinth
Erastus of Corinth ( el, Ἔραστος, ''Erastos''), also known as Erastus of Paneas, held the political office of steward ( el, οἰκονόμος, ''oikonomos''), in Corinth, according to the Epistle to the Romans 16:23 of the New Testamen ...
) has never been particularly popular as a black name. For example, the 1870 census reported only 42 individuals named Rastus in the United States, of whom only four were Black or
mulatto
(, ) is a racial classification to refer to people of mixed African and European ancestry. Its use is considered outdated and offensive in several languages, including English and Dutch, whereas in languages such as Spanish and Portuguese is ...
.
Rastus—as a stereotypically happy black man, not as a particular person—became a familiar character in
minstrel show
The minstrel show, also called minstrelsy, was an American form of racist theatrical entertainment developed in the early 19th century.
Each show consisted of comic skits, variety acts, dancing, and music performances that depicted people spe ...
s. This is documented in ''Every Time I Turn Around: Rite, Reversal, and the End of Blackface Minstrelsy'' by Jim Comer, in fiction such as ''Adventures of Rufus Rastus Brown in Darktown'' (1906) and ''Rastus Comes to the Point: A Negro Farce'', in popular songs such as ''Rastus, Take Me Back'' (1909) and ''(Rufus Rastus Johnson Brown) What You Going to Do When the Rent Comes 'Round'' (1905), on radio, and in films, most notably the ''Rastus'' series of short films, with titles that included ''How Rastus Got His Chicken'' and ''Rastus Runs Amuck''.
Rastus is also the name of the African-American character who first appeared on packages of
Cream of Wheat
Cream of Wheat is an American brand of farina, a type of breakfast porridge mix made from wheat middlings. It looks similar to grits, but is smoother in texture since it is made with ground wheat kernels instead of ground corn. It was first ma ...
cereal in 1893 and whose image remained the Cream of Wheat trademark until the 1920s, when it was replaced by a photograph of
Frank L. White, a Chicago chef in chef's hat and jacket.
Li'l Rastus
Ulysses Simon Harrison (born ), known as Li'l Rastus and Rastus Simon, was an African American teenager who served as a mascot of the Detroit Tigers baseball team from 1908 to 1910.
Tigers mascot
In the early 1900s, it was not unusual for Majo ...
was the nickname of an African American youth employed as a mascot by the Detroit Tigers from 1908 to 1910.
Anti-segregation editorialist and publisher
Ralph McGill
Ralph Emerson McGill (February 5, 1898 – February 3, 1969) was an American journalist and editorialist. An anti-segregationist editor he published the ''Atlanta Constitution'' newspaper. He was a member of the Peabody Awards Board of Juror ...
was referred to as "Rastus" McGill by white supremacists.
Filmography
*''Rastus Runs Amuck''
*''How Rastus Got His Chicken''
* ''
How Rastus Gets His Turkey''
*''Rastus Among the Zulus'', extant short
*''Rastus Knew It Wasn't'' (1914)
Theater
*''
Broadway Rastus
See also
*
Sambo
, aka = Sombo (in English-speaking countries)
, focus = Hybrid
, country = Soviet Union
, pioneers = Viktor Spiridonov, Vasili Oshchepkov, Anatoly Kharlampiev
, famous_pract = List of Practitioners
, oly ...
*
Sambo (film series)
''Sambo'' is a film series that was produced by Siegmund Lubin in the United States from 1909 until 1911. It met with success and was succeeded by the Rastus series. The films followed on the success of British author Helen Bannerman's 1899 childre ...
*
Magical Negro
The Magical Negro is a trope in American cinema, television, and literature. In the cinema of the United States, the Magical Negro is a supporting stock character who comes to the aid of white protagonists in a film. Magical Negro characters, w ...
*
Aunt Jemima
Pearl Milling Company (formerly known as Aunt Jemima from 1889 to 2021) is an American breakfast brand for pancake mix, syrup, and other breakfast food products. The original version of the pancake mix for the brand was developed in 1888–188 ...
References
External links
Connotations of the Names Rastus and LizaAn analysis from outside the U.S., from the Department of Translation Studies, University of Tampere, Finland
blackfaceFrom the personal website of william wu
From The Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia
From The Museum of Public Relations
Collection of mid-twentieth century adverting featuring Rastusfrom The TJS Labs Gallery of Graphic Design.
How Rastus Got His Turkey(1910), Short film, Times Review.
Rastus Among the Zulus(1913), Short film, fro
The Internet Movie DatabaseRastus Runs Amuck(1917), Short film, fro
The Internet Movie Database
{{African American caricatures and stereotypes
Food advertising characters
Male characters in advertising
Stereotypes of African Americans
Anti-African and anti-black slurs
Mascots introduced in 1893