The uber-sensitive MAGA universe thinks Cracker Barrel, the country food chain restaurant dotting America’s interstates, has gone woke. According to my MAGA sources, the problem lies with the corporate executives changing the Cracker Barrel logo.
I used the disparaging word “crackers” in the headline because MAGA outrage has suggested Cracker Barrel is trying to destroy their redneck image. The word “cracker” seems to have originated as a term for “boasting.” This long has been a trait of the macho Southern male. But in normal usage, a “cracker” is a denigrating term for poor Southern whites. Its primary synonym is “redneck.”
Why do people assume that a person who is uncouth, rude, vulgar and racist is always a redneck? I’m a Southern rural white man. I’m a redneck, but I’m not a bigot. Most of my kinfolk now think I’m a traitor to our Southern traditions and suffer from Trump Derangement Syndrome.
Rodney Kennedy
Claiming Uncle Herschel was a redneck because he liked Southern country cooking is a serious exaggeration. He’s a symbol on a logo, part of a billboard. He can mean whatever you want him to mean. Why can’t a logo change be a simple change?
I often eat at Cracker Barrel when I travel. I even have a Cracker Barrel map of the USA. It shows every Cracker Barrel in the country. On most U.S. interstate highways, there’s a Cracker Barrel about every 75 to 80 miles. I see the sign and think, “Ah, Redneck food. I’m hungry for chicken and dumplings or maybe chicken fired steak with mashed potatoes, white gravy, mustard greens, pinto beans and cornbread.” And now they serve beer.
The logo change doesn’t bother me. What does turn me off is the decline in the quality of food and service. Like many aging chains, Cracker Barrel has lost its gleam.
In 2022, Cracker Barrel sparked outrage after adding a breakfast sandwich with plant-based sausage to its morning menu. One user reacted to the company’s announcement on Facebook, writing, “I just lost respect for a once great Tennessee company.”
In June 2023, the chain angered MAGA again after posting in support of Pride month and debuting rainbow-colored rocking chairs. The “woke” shouts could be heard from Tallahatchie County, Miss., to Nashville.
MAGA had placed Cracker Barrel on the “Woke Suspect List” long before Harvard University made an appearance.
The new logo has been judged the latest nail in the coffin burying American tradition. One consultant complained on X, “We can’t stand for this! Return to tradition!” Another conservative activist posted, “It’s not about this particular restaurant chain — who cares — but about creating massive pressure against companies that are considering any move that might appear to be ‘wokification.’”
“The outrage over his disappearance makes him sound as if he were a Confederate general.”
The anger is not about what’s on the new logo but what has been deleted. The new logo has deleted Uncle Herschel, the old man in his overalls, and the barrel next to him.
I didn’t know Uncle Herschel was so beloved. He never struck me as a beloved figure. The outrage over his disappearance makes him sound as if he were a Confederate general.
MAGA sensitivity over cultural icons is ironic given the literalness of MAGA religion. Does anyone really think Cracker Barrel’s logo with an old guy in overalls was a sacred relic? Uncle Herschel could be anyone. He’s wearing overalls. So what? I have a pair of blue denim overalls. They work great for gardening.
Cracker Barrel’s new logo also loses the barrel. What was in the barrel? Moonshine whiskey? I can understand people being upset about losing a barrel of whiskey, but this is a logo. There’s nothing in the barrel. It’s just a barrel. How can this be woke?
Declaring Cracker Barrel as “woke” suggests MAGA is running out of “woke” entities to criticize. They have been slapping warning labels on government agencies, the Kennedy Center, the Smithsonian, universities and any organization that might suggest diversity, equity and inclusion.
Cracker Barrel is not cooking up large batches of “wokeness” to poison country food consumers. Cracker Barrel is trying to make a profit by enticing people to eat more country cuisine.
May the Lord hasten the day when wokeness, the ghost lurking about in the dark corners of the American mind, disappears and we can all return to being fellow Americans. And enjoying our country fried chicken and sweet tea in peace.
Rodney W. Kennedy is a pastor and writer in New York state. He is the author of 11 books, including his latest, Dancing with Metaphors in the Pulpit.