Cracker Insult Origin
Cracker Insult Origin Meaning
A name given to the original cowboy's who were actually from Florida, it is derived from the sound of the whip they use while rounding up cattle. To them the nickname is a compliment not an insult. If they want to use that word to insult me, I will NOT feel insulted, to do so would be to admit that their warped, sick definition of the word Cracker was correct or had some merit. To consider ‘cracker’ a racist term is insulting to all those who are of Scots, Irish, or Scotch-Irish descent as well as all the native born citizens of Florida and Georgia. Ramsey claims that the word 'cracker' originated from the British slang for 'cracked head', as in 'that bloke is crackers' and was used to insult the poor and working class. And that this trickled down into American slang to be used by blacks against whites but it not in any way a reference to the race of the people it's used against.
Hi folks, first post. I hope this is the correct place to ask this! So MTV has a new series of Social Justice focused lectures hosted by Franchesca Ramsey called Decoded. The latest one was about the origins of words used to insult white people like 'cracker', 'redneck' Etc. and her claim is that these words originate from upper class white communities disparaging their poorer white counterparts.
My question is this. Ramsey claims that the word 'cracker' originated from the British slang for 'cracked head', as in 'that bloke is crackers' and was used to insult the poor and working class. And that this trickled down into American slang to be used by blacks against whites but it not in any way a reference to the race of the people it's used against.
As a person who grew up in black communities and went to a school with a half blank population, I have heard it instead as a direct commentary on the whiteness of people's skin, such as 'you're as white as a saltine cracker'.
Cracker Insult Origin In Hindi
I have also heard conflicting claims that it references the whip that slavemasters used to carry in antebellum says.
So, what do ya'll think? Is 'cracker' a British classist insult as Ramsey claims that is in no way racially coded? Where did it come from?