Cracker Jack: Offensive? Racist?

MC_E · February 9, 2003, 2:02pm

What about Uncle Ben’s Rice, isn’t Uncle Ben a deragatory term for a black person who… Oh wait, that’s a different Uncle…

Nevermind.

:shrinks away sheepishly:

MC$E

martin_ibn_martin · February 9, 2003, 2:21pm

*Originally posted by knock knock *
**My original post was exaggerated. The language was excessively strong. I am not deeply offended by the makers of Cracker Jack®. I am not asking for boycotts (although if anyone seriously wants to, go ahead). I am not looking for trouble, and I do not expect extreme anger, outrage, or protests. I understand that the etymology and history of the brand name “Cracker Jack” derive from “crackerjack” meaning excellent, not “cracker” as a racial slur of whites, especially southerners & rednecks. That much, at least, should have been clear from my original post. And, if anyone cares, I’m a white male.

That being said, I still think there’s an issue here. Here’s one thing I would like to ask of you. Look at the picture that I linked to before. Pretend that you were just picking up a Cracker Jack box for the first time and you were curious about it. Note the prominent features: the words “Cracker Jack” and a picture of a happy white boy in a blue sailor suit. Note that “Cracker Jack” is clearly two separate words: it’s written on two separate lines and the J in Jack is capitalized. It’s not just some word “crackerjack” or “crackajack” from the 1900s. Now look at the label of the picture: “sailor jack & bingo”. They chose as their logo a white boy known as “sailor jack”. Obviously, there is some connection between jack the boy and the “Jack” in the name of the product. There is a certain amount of identification between the two. Perhaps the Jack in Cracker Jack refers to sailor jack. But wait - if Jack is the little white boy, then what does the Cracker in “Cracker Jack” refer to? If we consider the possible meanings of “cracker”, only one usage seems relevant. It is not a pleasant usage. And it is a bit unsettling that it is this easy to interpret a box of candied popcorn & nuts as providing a disparaging description of this white boy, sailor jack = Cracker Jack.

Has anyone noticed this before? Has anyone commented on it? I know that just about every crackpot theory is argued for somewhere on the net, but a search for this turned up empty. I did find two sites that describe Sailor Jack as “goofy”, which could be considered evidence against the view of: “he’s just a happy innocent little kid. How could anyone think negatively of him.”

I’m not saying that there’s any ill intent on anyone’s part - there obviously isn’t. It’s just a bit disturbing that this racial epithet follows so easily and naturally from observation of the box. If my explanation seems a bit long and unnatural, it is because I was trying to make all of the observations, ideas, and connections explicit and clear. This concern is likely to at least cross the mind of someone who looks at the picture and considers “why did they choose this boy ‘sailor jack’ as their logo?” Maybe it would’ve been better if I’d started by posting that question and the link to see how people would respond. It would make an interesting experiment, at least.

Also, I wonder: if a derogatory interpretation relating to some other racial or ethnic group was this readily available in a product, however innocuous the intentions, what is the chance that there would be at least some public reaction to it? I don’t want to make a big issue out of this because I don’t have any serious complaints about “reverse discrimination” and I know there’s a whole discussion of issues like this going on elsewhere. I just think it can be interesting (& perhaps enlightening) to consider how the treatment of different ethnic groups varies. Could sports teams get away with treating blacks the way that they treat Native Americans (think Redskins, Chief Wahoo, the Tomahawk Chop,…)? Is there assymmetry in the jokes that are allowed about different groups? (I had a friend who thought the allowed-to-joke-about hierarchy was like the social hierarchy upside down - “oppressed” groups can tell jokes about any group that’s “less oppressed”.) If it is possible to interpret material as disparaging to blacks, is that decried as “hidden racism” while material that could be interpreted as disparaging to whites is seen as harmless? And so on. **

Ahem…

Niggapleez!

Thank you

knock_knock · February 9, 2003, 4:07pm

I don’t want or expect Cracker Jack® to do anything about this. I just want some people to notice that the existence of a white boy named Sailor Jack on a product known as Cracker Jack could be interpreted that way. It would be nice if some people found this a little bit interesting, weird, or unsettling. It would be great if there’s someone out there who had actually thought of this before. I do know one person IRL who has come up with this independently. My motives here are basically the same as in this thread, when I noted the eery similarity between the name Chip ‘n’ Dale, which I know from the cartoon about crime-solving chipmunks known as Chip ‘n’ Dale’s Rescue Rangers, and the male strippers known as Chippendales. The only difference is that, in that thread, I also had a factual question about the reason for the similarity of their names.

THANX!!!11

TVGuy · February 9, 2003, 4:11pm

I don’t know, think about all the other things in our lives that are offensively offensive to people:

Getting GAS for your car - clearly meant to offend the flatulently challenged.

The advertising campaign “Got Milk?” - VERY obviously meant to offend mothers who cannot lactate. Or at least the lactose intolerant.

Or how about “Budwieser, the King of Beers” - they plainly mean to offend all queens (drag or otherwise.)

And remember UPS’s old slogan, “The Tightest Ship in the Shipping Business”? OH MAN! We cannot even begin to cover how patently offensive this is to sailors, drunks, delivery personnel and those who drive brown vehicles!

There’s more I’m certain - but that’s all the smart-ass I want to spend on one silly thread.

Pucky_Schumer · February 10, 2003, 4:07am

And what about Cracker Barrel restaurants?

JonScribe · February 10, 2003, 6:37am

What? Just because the Cracker Barrel logo is a bunch of dead whiteys stuffed into a pickle barrel?

I love starting false rumors about corporations.

knock_knock · February 10, 2003, 4:17pm

If Cracker Barrel’s logo was a picture of white people in a barrel, the same way that Cracker Jack’s logo is a picture of a white person named Jack, then that would be a little unsettling as well. When I first heard of Cracker Barrel, without knowing anything about that expression, the image in my mind was of a big wooden barrel filled with crackers. Plus there was cheese on the side. When I heard about Cracker Jack, without knowing the expression, I didn’t get any image in my head. After seeing a Cracker Jack box, I got the image of sailor jack, the white boy in the blue sailor suit. And that led to trouble.

By the way, I think that Cracker Barrel’s racial problems are of a different form. Take a look at this article: Taking the “Cracker” out of Cracker Barrel.

lesa · February 10, 2003, 7:59pm

knock knock - One thing you should consider is that most white people aren’t offended by the word “cracker.” I’ve never even heard someone use it in the derogatory sense. I’ve seen the insult used in print, but never heard it used in real life.

Also, “cracker” has a common non-derogatory meaning. I think most people looking at a food product with “cracker” written on it think of “cracker” the food, not “cracker” the insult.

If you asked me casually to name all the meanings of “cracker” I could come up with, I would say:

Salty good food item
Type of computer hacker
British detective show
Safe cracker

I don’t know if I would even think about the derogatory meaning, unless something had recently brought it to mind.

dougie_monty · February 10, 2003, 9:35pm

We could also make the case that:

The depiction of a child on the cover is offensive and cruel to children.
The depiction of a dog is cruelty to animals.
The sailor suit is a slur against the U. S. Navy. And the kid is saluting, which means it’s an attack on naval discipline as well.
And what about crackers? Certainly Sunshine and Premium would object.
The use of the word “Cracker” is a slur on the entire state of Georgia.
And since “Jack” has sexual connotations, we’d better not use that either.
In other words, let’s clear all printed matter through some politically perfect (not just “correct”) governing board, to ensure that it meets their standards! Who needs the First Amendment anyway? :eek: :mad:
Shades of Fahrenheit 451.
Haven’t we heard this before?

Road_Rash · February 10, 2003, 11:12pm

AFAIK, the term Cracker, while maybe in current use by some as a direct slur towards white folk, is more kin to calling someone a redneck, hick, or white trash. Or even hillbilly, except that the “crackers” came from the Georgia plains.

I have called people “crazy cracker.” Being white, I should be able to get away from it. Being a city slicker, it may offend my rural brothers.

Pucky_Schumer · February 11, 2003, 12:05am

As with all of these terms, it’s often more in the way it is said that what is said. In the “Roots” miniseries, the character played by Chuck Connors takes great offense at being called a cracker. On the other hand, I once showed a black friend my sports car and he derided it as a “cracker box.” As soon as it came out of his mouth, he ahemed and switched to “sardine can.” I was laughing.

keturah · February 11, 2003, 12:47am

Honestly, I think you are trying way too hard to find things to be offended about…
unless this is a parody–In which case I say, well done.

Miller · February 11, 2003, 5:44am

I object to the mayor’s blatant slur against the inhabitants of the city of Hastings.