Is the iconic Cracker Barrel logo of the famous restaurant chain, racist? Twitter has erupted over speculations that the logo has racial ties. According to widespread claims online, a "cracker" was a slang for a whip and according to one Twitter user who is now going viral, Blacks would call Whites (& pardon my language here, this is for historical reference only) "Crackers" because of what they say was a reference to the "crack of the whip" over slaves. Further adding to the speculation here, there is a bit of historic reference that we do now for certain and that is that whips were commonly sold out of the wooden barrels at local country stores of the era...and we of course know that aside from "Barrel" in the name, an actual wooden barrel is used for the store/restaurant's logo. Additionally, many are pointing out that it appears as though an actual whip is shown in the logo connecting the "R" and the K" in "Cracker Barrel".
See here for reference to the speculation that is now going viral:
As you can see this tweet as almost over 30k likes and almost 11k retweets as of the writing of this article. I predict in about a day or less this will turn into a national story as more and more people draw attention to the Cracker Barrel logo. We're at a time in our country where rebranding of restaurants, products, franchises, mascots, stores, and more are happening during this social justice movement that is afoot. At times I can see how it might be taken too far and I do not always agree with some of the rebranding but I have to say in the case of Cracker Barrel, it doesn't look good if indeed all this speculation is accurate. The company is going to have to come out and explain the origins of the name and logo and if it indeed has racial ties and references say goodbye to the name and logo you famously know because there is no way this will stay in 2021. If the name is in reference to a barrel of whips that were used on slaves next to what appears to be a White man sitting next to the barrel, I can't see how that would be unacceptable. I'm open to hearing all sides here and I think we need an explanation from Cracker Barrel and then we go from there but as I said, this doesn't look good and I hate to say it but I think another logo bites the dust. Do you think the Cracker Barrel logo is racist as many are claiming?
-Producer Lightning