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[-] KillerTofu@lemmy.world 5 points 2 years ago

The origin of the pejorative use of cracker comes from the south where the poor whites could only afford to eat cracked corn porridge.

[-] 0ops@lemm.ee 2 points 2 years ago

TIL. I always assumed it was because us whites were the color of saltines

[-] KillerTofu@lemmy.world 4 points 2 years ago

It’s all about class warfare! The rich whites looked down on the poor whites with only slightly less disdain than the slaves. The crackers essentially ate animal feed, cracked corn. Why help out your fellow man when you can exploit them for profits and save some money!

[-] DragonTypeWyvern@midwest.social -1 points 2 years ago

Revisionism. When I was in school I was told it was because the poor whites owned a "cracker jack box of land."

In reality, cracker means "whip cracker." Also possibly just literally a type of soda cracker which is white, but these things tend towards both being true. Or what you told the whip crackers when they ask.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cracker_(term)

[-] KingOfSleep@lemmy.ca 2 points 2 years ago

From your link: "The exact history and etymology of the word is debated."

[-] KillerTofu@lemmy.world 0 points 2 years ago

Poor whites didn’t own land.

this post was submitted on 19 Jun 2024
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hmmm

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