Cracker Barrel Lawsuit

[AnneMarble]

Have you seen the story about Cracker Barrel (http://www.thekansascitychannel.com/money/10104494/detail.html)? Chris Rock's mother is suing the restaurant chain because it took them half an hour to serve her. (She and her daughter were the only black customers in the restaurant.) According to the article, there have been a lot of complaints about Cracker Barrel discriminating against black customers.

And yet I've also been at chain restaurants like this (not Cracker Barrel but similar places) where I had to wait half an hour or more. For example, I stopped going to a particular national steak chain (Hint: Fake Australian accents) because of a waitress who took eons to bring me my check. Sometimes the restaurants and servers aren't racist -- sometimes they just suck. How do you tell the difference? OTOH I wouldn't put racism past some of the !@#$ servers I've come across.

[aadams73]

I'm white and I had the same sh!tty service at Cracker Barrel. I'm a 20% or more tipper, but that time I left the waitress a quarter.

So, in this particular instance was it racism? I have no idea, but some people are still racist morons.

[AnneMarble]

I'm white and I had the same sh!tty service at Cracker Barrel. I'm a 20% or more tipper, but that time I left the waitress a quarter.
Yeah, everyone can get sh!tty (gawd, that is hard to type) service. I still remember the time eons ago my entire Girl Scout group (as far as I remember, all white) got shafted by the service at a Holiday Inn restaurant. Most of us ordered the special of the day, and we waited for a long time while the people around us (who came after us) got served this special. Then finally our waiter came and told us they were out of the special.
:rant:
We weren't sure if he took his time serving us because we were a group or because we were on our way back from Canada, and he thought we were Canadian. (Our troop leader was from Tidewater Virginia, and like some Canadians, they say "aboot.") This was at at time when Canadian money was deflated quite a bit, so he was probably afraid he would get tipped in Canadian money. Come to think of it, we did tip him in Canadian money. A Canadian nickel. :tongue

So, in this particular instance was it racism? I have no idea, but some people are still racist morons.
Good point. Some people are both lousy servers and racist morons. In fact, the two "qualities" might go well together because they imply an inherent jerkiness.

[billythrilly7th]

What did Chris Rock's mom expect at a place called "Cracker Barrel?"

Personally, I don't like the racist overtones of the name "Cracker Barrel."

I will be heading down there to protest this weekend as well. And I will be filing a class action lawsuit.

Thank you.

[AnneMarble]

Personally, I don't like the racist overtones of the name "Cracker Barrel."

I will be heading down there to protest this weekend as well. And I will be filing a class action lawsuit.
:Clap:

[ColoradoGuy]

When I've gone in there I couldn't get past the hokey fake "antiques" on the wall. It's true -- with a name like "Cracker Barrel" one half expects to see a couple of white hoods on the wall as part of the decor.

[AnneMarble]

When I've gone in there I couldn't get past the hokey fake "antiques" on the wall. It's true -- with a name like "Cracker Barrel" one half expects to see a couple of white hoods on the wall as part of the decor.
I expect to see cheese colored the size of lemons and oranges. :)

On an unrelated note, my mother comes from France, so she really likes her cheese, but she hates those weird yellow and orange cheeses. Let alone cheese (cheez?) that comes out of a spray can. I try to tell her that the really nice cheeses are "fromage," but that the artificially colored ones she hates are "froamidges." ("Spray some froamidge on my cracker, Earl.")

[dclary]

Cracker Barrel gives you a sh*tload of food for like $4.

Chris Rock's mom needs to take a freakin' chill pill. If she needs a million dollars I bet Chunky Soup would give her an ad contract.

[dclary]

And you guys are all showing your latent racism by attributing cracker to something OTHER than "cracker."

That's the same attitude that deprived the world of Sambos.

[blacbird]

I'm all for it. Somebody oughta sue that company just for existing.

caw.

[Ol' Fashioned Girl]

And you guys are all showing your latent racism by attributing cracker to something OTHER than "cracker."

That's the same attitude that deprived the world of Sambos.

I'm surprised we still have 'Aunt Jemima'.

[Kate Thornton]

This quote is from
http://scoop.diamondgalleries.com/scoop_article.asp?ai=1353&si=126

Nancy Green was a real person - and proud of her image.


"Born into slavery in 1834, the woman who would become known to millions as Aunt Jemima was really named Nancy Green. She was a warm, friendly woman who also happened to be an excellent cook (though, interestingly enough, the famous Aunt Jemima pancake recipe wasn't hers. It belonged to a company called the Pearl Milling Company). And it was in 1893 that she was discovered in Chicago, at the age of 59, by one R.T. Davis.

"Head of the R.T. Davis Milling Company, Davis bought the pancake formula from Chris Rutt and Charles Underwood when the Pearl Milling Company went bankrupt. And though it was Rutt and Underwood who came up with the name "Aunt Jemima," it was Davis who decided to use a living person to endorse it.

"History was made that year at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, the very first time Nancy Green went public. It was there that she, with her charming and animated personality, engaged the crowds and supplied them with thousands of pancakes. In fact, she was such a sensation that police had to be assigned to keep the crowds moving!

"The rest of the story made marketing history. Soon, Nancy Green signed a lifetime contract with Davis, and her image was on billboards and advertisements all over the world. Davis was up to his eyeballs in pancake orders, and flour sales skyrocketed. Even after the Davis Company had to sell years later, Nancy Green remained the "pancake queen." It wasn't until 1923 when her legacy as a living trademark ended - when she was tragically struck and killed by a car in downtown Chicago. Two years later, the Aunt Jemima Mills were purchased by the Quaker Oats Company.

"The famous image of Aunt Jemima was based on the real image of Nancy Green, an original painting of which recently sold for $9,030 at MastroNet. This painting was rendered by A.B. Frost, now regarded as one of the great illustrators of the Golden Age of American Illustration. "

She was a remarkable woman - long may her image grace our tables.

[cree]

And you guys are all showing your latent racism by attributing cracker to something OTHER than "cracker."

That's the same attitude that deprived the world of Sambos.

Haven't heard Sambo's mentioned in a long time! Ate there a lot as a kid.

[blacbird]

When I was in college, a favorite place to eat was a small local soul-food establishment run by a black entrepreneur who started with next to nothing in an urban-renewal area. Made incredibly good po'-boy sandwiches, in particular, and they weren't expensive. About once a week a group of us po'-white-boys would crowd into a car and go over there to eat, got to be known as local clientele.

The real amusement, though, was that the name of the place was "Whitey's".

caw.

[Mac H.]

And you guys are all showing your latent racism by attributing cracker to something OTHER than "cracker."

That's the same attitude that deprived the world of Sambos.What IS the racial connection of 'cracker'?

Around here it doesn't have any racial connotations. Mind you, some people complained about the brand of cheese called 'Coon' - which is also apparently a racial term in the USA.

Still, I miss the sight of toys such as gollywogs. Err - golly-ethnics.

Mac

[Ol' Fashioned Girl]

What IS the racial connection of 'cracker'?[quote]

Essentially, 'poor white trash'... although I believe 'Georgia Crackers' are kinda fiercely proud of the term (I'm not from Georgia, so I can't swear this is true, however.)

[quote]Still, I miss the sight of toys such as gollywogs. Err - golly-ethnics.

And I had to look *that* up! ;)

[jbal]

I heard (don't know if this is true) that "cracker" was a reference to cracking a whip.

[Ol' Fashioned Girl]

I believe that's where it got its start, yes.

[Opty]

I heard (don't know if this is true) that "cracker" was a reference to cracking a whip.

Yes, supposedly from slave masters cracking their whips. Apocryphal, but makes sense.

[TsukiRyoko]

Did someone tell Chris Rock's mother to shut the hell up and wait for her food? I hate it when the race card is pulled out and used as a joker. Karma says she'll choke in the next restaurant she goes to.

[zarch]

Did someone tell Chris Rock's mother to shut the hell up and wait for her food? I hate it when the race card is pulled out and used as a joker. Karma says she'll choke in the next restaurant she goes to.

I don't know about the karma part, but I definitely agree with the shut the hell up part.

[K1P1]

Haven't heard Sambo's mentioned in a long time! Ate there a lot as a kid.

Was Sambo's a restaurant somewhere? I assumed the reference was to the book Little Black Sambo.

[Scribhneoir]

Was Sambo's a restaurant somewhere? I assumed the reference was to the book Little Black Sambo.

Yes, Sambo's was a chain of restaurants similar to Denny's. I remember eating there as a kid, too. But eventually someone took offense to the name and all the Sambo's in my area either closed or became Coco's. I have no idea whether the name originally referred to Little Black Sambo or not.