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What is "tarbrush"

Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
tarbrush

1711, from tar (n.1) + brush (n.1). To have a touch of the tarbrush "have a dash of African ancestry visible in the skin tone" (1796) was "a term of contempt from the West Indies" [Century Dictionary].

Wiktionary
tarbrush

alt. A brush used for applying tar n. A brush used for applying tar

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Usage examples of "tarbrush".

You take some of them ragtag Muskogee Seminoles up around Lake Okeechobee, a lot of 'em's got a big swipe of the tarbrush, but you'd never know it from the way they act toward colored people.