Saturday, December 29, 2007

Cracker Barrel--Definitely Less Repugnant!!

We're back in Kentucky! A quick note. While traveling to Florida and back, we stopped at three or four Cracker Barrels. Cracker Barrel's long history of discrimination against blacks and gays was reflected in the very prominent non-discrimination statements in the doorways. The few times I had been in Cracker Barrel, I had always been repulsed by the swarmy "country" sugar-i-ness and phony good spirits. The whole atmosphere was not only disgusting in itself but one also knew that the underbelly of hatred and bigotry was always present.

But things have changed--at least on the surface. The Cracker Barrels we visited in Tennessee and Georgia not only had non-discriminatory signs, they also had significant numbers of African-American servers that I hadn't remembered in my previous visits. The presence of black people was certainly a welcome diversity. That presence also had the effect of eliminating the sugary smarminess.

The food at Cracker Barrel may not be that great, but it's much less repugnant than it used to be.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

So being waited on by Negroes makes you feel all Christmassy, does it?

Interesting.

Anonymous said...

People should serve African-Americans in Cracker Barrel. Grinsteads and the Driggers (both have African ancestry) is not going to like this due to refusal of serving African-Americans.