When Donald Trump came back into office this year, one of the first things he did was issue some kind of anti-DEI thing, basically encouraging American businesses to roll back their diversity and equality programs. Some businesses and corporations took the bait, like Target. Target’s CEO made a big, splashy announcement that Target would immediately begin to roll back their DEI policies and practices. Consumers showed Target what they thought of all of that, Black consumers especially. The organic boycott of Target has now cost the company $12 billion and Target’s CEO is stepping down.
Well, in August, MAGA-world discovered Cracker Barrel’s plan to change their logo, their signs and their “the south shall rise again” decor. MAGAts threw a tantrum, even though liberals had absolutely nothing to do with it and we were totally fine with the old white guy AND the barrel on the logo. Cracker Barrel ended up walking back their redesign in a matter of days. I hoped that the whole thing was over and people could just stop with all of this dumb sh-t. Well, now Cracker Barrel is ending all of their DEI programs. F–k this business.
Cracker Barrel has axed its equality programmes amid a maelstrom of conservative pressure, following its disastrous bid to redesign its “Old Timer” logo. The Tennessee-based chain of restaurants announced in August it was reversing plans to update its badge to a minimalist design, after the move was slammed as woke by some on the right and even caught the ire of Donald Trump.
In what appears to be the next step in bowing to outraged conservative customers, Cracker Barrel has now introduced a raft of changes, pulling back from sponsoring certain events, including Pride. It is also removing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion policies, Fox Business reported.
“The company does not have DEI team-member positions or DEI quotas/requirements,” a spokesperson said. “It hires, promotes, and rewards individuals based only on skills and performance—full stop. It does not treat employees or guests differently based on race or any other protected class.”
As previously reported, however, the firm did once have a DEI section on its website, which, according to The Hill, stated, “We are increasing our focus on leadership development and mentorship programs to better identify, recruit and advance strong, racially and ethnically diverse talent.”
Beyond the spokesperson’s words, no new statement pointed specifically to the ending of DEI programmes, the chain posted a statement on X saying, “TODAY, you can go to Cracker Barrel and know that every biscuit was hand-rolled and baked fresh that day.”
It comes just days after plans to remodel its 660 restaurants were suspended after “testing” new designs that promised to “declutter.”
“The vintage American you love will always be here—the rocking chairs on the porch, our fireplaces and peg games, unique treasures in our gift shop, and antiques pulled straight from our warehouse in Lebanon, Tennessee,” it said in a statement.
I have no idea about the racial demographic breakdown of Cracker Barrel’s customers, especially compared side-by-side with the extremely effective Target boycott. I would assume that, if Cracker Barrel’s new anti-Pride, anti-DEI, white-pride-forward policies become more widely known, there will be a reaction from customers. But I’m absolutely curious about what Cracker Barrel’s internal data says – they must believe that the majority of their customer base is white and politically conservative, thus there won’t be much of a political or economic cost to this.
Photos courtesy of Backgrid.
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