I just got up from conversation with a couple of older black men, that I said “well I got to go back to work and start cracking the whip.” And it occurred to me then that it was probably a really insensitive stupid thing to say.
Sadly, it hadn’t occurred to me until it’s already said.
When I was younger, I thought the term “cracker” referred to white people being pale like a cracker that you’d eat. I did not realize until later that it was referring to whipping.
I’m 38 and I did not know this.
So you’re telling me Saltines aren’t part of my American heritage?
Oh, fuck. This would have been nice to know sooner.
To be fair, in Florida at least it referred primarily to the whips used to drive cattle, not anything slavery related.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florida_cracker
Huh. Never heard of that before. But then, am Aussie and don’t know much yank idiom.