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this post was submitted on 29 May 2024
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The cracker boss man done fucked up. Some new barrels for the crackers should do it. They'll even have loyal cracker programs.
"cracker" is a term used for slave owners on horseback 'cracking the whip' on the backs of slaves. Possibly analogous to a modern CEO that pays slave wages. Like half minimum wage to server staff.
"Cracker Barrel" refers to 19th century rations. The Cracker was a shelf stable hard-tack biscuit and they were packed into barrels or boxes for transport. You would have encountered hard tack in the military or as a poverty food.
There is a story about General Lee and Jackson meeting before Chancellorsville while sat on these boxes called the "Crackerbox Meeting"
I don't think the name is related to the anti-white pejorative.
Oh yeah! Cracker Barrel, as far as I can tell, never offered hard tack made items on the menu! Boo! False advertising!
Thanks for the info, I didn't realize that's where the name came from :)
Not it is not but, it is know to a haven for old white people so...
I thought you were wrong about the term. I've lived all my life in the south and had known it to reference poor whites that had to crack corn to live. But Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cracker_(term), says your definition is one of the meanings. I learned something today!
This is a cute little history lesson you two have been on, but the name for the restaurant comes from barrels of literal crackers.
First time I got called a cracker I laughed and hung up on the caller (customer service job).
"Eww! You a smartass little cracker ain't ya!"
Pulled a black friend aside:
"Hey Darren, I just got called a 'cracker'. Is that a racial slur or something?"
LOL, Darren just stared at me a minute. "Yeah, you know, master cracking the whip? (with hand-waving demo) You never heard that?!"
Darren was an education. Got stuck with him and another coworker in a room all afternoon. Had to leave because my stomach hurt from laughing so hard and so long. Thought I was getting sick until I got away from him and took a breath.
Are you familiar with the term "whitewashing"? That's another good one, and it happens frequently when it comes to history classes in southern states.
It's one of my favorite things to teach white friends and (extended) family when they say they don't care about being called cracker, or are "never offended" by words
"Oh, you're right. I don't really like that!" - my cousin in law. lol. The look on her face was honestly priceless
It’s a reminder that those you oppress see you as less than human too, but they have a reason to. It’s never just a word, it’s the weight behind it
Idk about less than human; moreso, we just see them/each other through a racial lens - one rooted in our respective culture(s) and understanding of history (which is itself usually heavily-written/influenced by earlier European culture/historians).
That said, most Americans tend to use racism as a synonym for prejudice (as opposed to the academic definition of racism; i.e. an "organized system of race-based" prejudice). To probe this line of thought, I've recently started asking people whether they would consider a black American (wo)man growing up in 1845 (pre-Civil war) or in ~1930 (peak KKK membership; ~5 million Americans) racist for their likely negative views of the average white American. I've yet to get an answer, which is a bit of a bummer. Personally, I think most people realize it would be silly to call a black American slave racist for being prejudiced of their fellow white American citizens who they know only as brutal slave owners/traders. (Did y'all know pirates would use African slaves to launder money since they had a stable monetary value?)
Sorry, if it's a bit of a tangent. I find this stuff super interesting. Highly recommend "Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?" by Beverly Tatum and the doc "Exterminate All the Brutes" on HBO to anyone interested. Then come and chat with me about your thoughts! No one I know cares about this kind of stuff. It's all rap battles and dumb culture war crap, but I digress (further)
Thank you for the insight, and I suppose I may have spoken carelessly.
And yeah as a white American I’ve absolutely noticed a tendency to view racism as you describe and I really appreciate your examples and hope to remember them next time I’m in that argument
But we're not saying racial prejudice is a good thing just because it doesn't fit the academic definition of racism, right? Like, if a white child grows up in a predominantly black area and is picked on for being different, it's still terrible if they grow up loathing black people. Even though it's not an example of systemic or ~~instructional~~ institutional racism and just plain old boring racial prejudice.
Edit: autocorrect
But prejudice has always been bad. It's just that racism, especially the racism that resulted from centuries of chattel slavery, is worse. It's a lot worse. It's something that can be studied through multiple lenses/fields, politics (colonization, authoritarianism), psychology (identity formation, PTSD), law (red-lining, jim crow, mass incarceration) economics (no business loans from banks, racist hiring practices), philosophy (justice, freedom, epistemology), sociology, anthropology, etc.
People don't really fear being called a slur on the street as much as they fear being seen as less than human by our society and shared institutions.
You mean c*****r if it's as bad as you say.
Uhh, did I say it was bad somewhere? I don't think I even stated my opinion about it. lol. Wtf u talking bout?
It's usually white people that say it's not bad/offensive and/or that everyone should be allowed to say whatever they want or they're just words, don't get so offended, etc.
I'm just teaching my white friends and fam their own history. Personally, I think it's worse and more offensive that they don't know or care about the atrocities their ancestors committed than the modern use of the word cracker. That said, it's offensive like seeing a piece of trash on the street - it won't ruin my day or anything but I'm well aware it's stll trashy