Cracker, The Terms Possible Origins

[DJ RBG]

"Cracker"

Karanja Burke

Don West's poem "Look Here, America" is powerfully assertive and unorthodox, declaring the absence of racism in the hills of Appalachia. Furthermore, West shows his sadness that this racism still exists in other parts of the country. According to the poem, while people are wasting their time worrying about the color of a person's skin, the residents of Appalachia are embracing each other and shamelessly working together. West urges the citizens of America to investigate this problem, and to view Appalachia as an example of triumph. Interestingly enough, "Look Here, America" was published in 1946, some 15 years before sentiments of civil rights became widespread.

In his poem, West refers to himself and White southerners as "crackers." The term is generally of a derogatory nature, and seems to be resident to the South. Despite its negative connotations, it is sometimes seen as a term of endearment, especially among White Georgians, although many Southern whites do not use nor do they approve of the term. "Cracker" has specific ethnic connotations, directed towards White Southerners, and more frequently, poor ones. Of its peculiar dual nature, Irving Allen writes, "'Cracker' is a positive or at least a humorous self-label for many Georgians. But in and beyond Georgia it was and remains a class epithet, and is more recently a black term for any white, Southerner or Northerner, who is thought to be a racist" (59). Peculiarly, in the book Black Jargon in White America by David Claerbaut, the latter, more negative racist definition of cracker is listed first (Claerbaut 61).

The origins of the term are uncertain, though there are a few conjectures. Dave Wilton, who studies etymology as a hobby, presents the idea that the term may have come from the word corncracker, which describes someone who cracks corn for liquor, a common practice especially in early Appalachia. Wilton writes, "The song lyric 'Jimmy Crack Corn' is a reference to this. In the song, a slave sings about how his master got drunk, fell, hit his head, and died. And the slave 'don't care.' (This was a pretty subversive song for its day.) This usage, however, is probably not the origin of the ethnic term cracker" (Wilton, par. 1). Wilton also suggests that the term may have come from 16th century Old English, where "to crack" meant to boast. There isn't much to reinforce this belief, however.

Going along with the cracked corn theory, Delma Presley, a noted scholar, believes that "cracker" came from as far back as the 18th Century, where cracked corn was actually consumed by the Scots-Irish (Allen 50). As those settlers came to Appalachia, the practice of cracking corn to produce liquor became popular, and the term thus followed them. Then, while the Scots-Irish and several other ethnic groups populated Appalachia, cracker was applied to all of the white inhabitants.

Clarence Major, in his Dictionary of Afro-American Slang, lists two rather interesting ideas about the origin of the term. The first is that a "cracker" was a slang term used by 19th Century Georgian slaves to refer to the slavemasters. If this were in fact, true, then the term would come directly from the cracking of the slavemaster's whip. This is quite a peculiar theory, because it would immediately explain the negative connotation that the word has taken. However, there seems to be little or no support for this theory, and no other source that was studied mentions it.

The other theory Major suggests is that, in light of the extreme racial tension of the 19th Century, "cracker" came straight from "the white soda cracker as opposed to say, ginger cookies" (Major 42). Again, this would explain where the derogatory undertones could originate. But as with Major's first explanation, there seems to be no reinforcement for this, and this was the only source that made any mention of such an origin. The former of Major's etymologies does seem to somewhat hint back to the popular cracked corn theory, but it is the only theory investigated that gave such an assertion. Major's definition of cracker is simple: "a white person" (Allen 42). One particular thing to note is that Major's Dictionary was published in 1970, towards the end of the civil rights era, which, along with years of Reconstruction, mark arguably the two most tense ages with concern to relations between Blacks and Whites.

Why Georgia is listed so many times as an assumed origin for "cracker" is not known.

As one can see, there are many possible origins for cracker, and no one seems to have a definitive idea as to where it exactly received its current meaning. As stated before, despite the fact that it was once and still is used as an insult, white Southerners, to however small an extent, have embraced the term, and use it even jokingly among themselves, much like nigger, chink, spic, and redneck have been inverted. As another example of this, Irving Allen tells us that "the term redneck was... applied to any working-class Southerner in the genteel view" (Allen 58). George Wallace and Jeff Foxworthy are two people who were instrumental in this reversal of redneck's connotations.

So, one final question is, just why did Don West decide to refer to himself and White Appalachians as crackers in his poems? West was making a statement, further strengthening his anti-racism theme in "Look Here, America." By calling himself a "cracker," he debases himself in order to figuratively put himself on the same level as his black counterpart, to emphasize that he holds no qualms in holding a black man's hand, and calling him his brother (West, 3.5-8). It's strikingly ironic that many view Appalachia as an extremely prejudiced region, and West surprises America by declaring his happiness to interact with blacks.
Works Cited

Allen, Irving Lewis. Unkind Words: Ethnic Labeling from Redskin to WASP. New York: Bergin and Garvey, 1990.

Claerbaut, David. Black Jargon in White America. Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1972.

Major, Clarence. Dictionary of Afro-American Slang. New York: International Publishers, 1970.

West, Don. "Look Here, America."

David Wilton

[GoodRain]

It think it derived from the bull whip sound when landing on flesh. I know most Caucasians dont see it that way.
Also of note at the Florida State fair their is a part of the fair called "Cracker Town". It basically a place with historical American shops and displaying of American history before 1900.