I saw this today on Mashed – How Cracker Barrel Just Got Dragged Into Another Controversy: https://www.mashed.com/897787/how-cracker-barrel-just-got-dragged-into-another-controversy/. Longer article.
BY OSSIANA TEPFENHART June 16, 2022
If there was ever a modern restaurant chain that can’t seem to avoid controversy, it’s Cracker Barrel.
Cracker Barrel is supposed to be a nice, family-friendly country-themed restaurant where people can go to eat deep-fried foods at a reasonable price. As explained on the FAQ page of Cracker Barrel’s website, the chain was named after the tradition of people gathering around a cracker barrel at the local general store to talk. In fact, Southern Living observes that this tradition is closely tied to the meaning of the term “cracker barrel.” Dictionary.com defines it as an adjective “suggesting the simple rustic informality and directness thought to be characteristic of life in and around a country store.” As it turns out, this restaurant chain has received negative attention due to its name in the past couple of years.
There has been an ongoing rumor circling the net claiming that “Cracker Barrel” relates to the racist white nationalist term or to a barrel of “whips” used on enslaved people. In one iteration, posters even claim that the stylized “K” in its store sign is supposed to be a whip. This has been debunked, by Sopes, though it is true that in other contexts, the term “cracker” has been used in reference to cracking whips. Even so, the name seems to keep coming back to haunt the restaurant chain.
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Ups Downs Family History 
Seems people are trying real hard to find things that would offend them…
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