One customer at a Cracker Barrel restaurant in Connecticut was outraged when they saw nooses hanging from the establishment’s ceiling. Although the restaurant claimed that the “nooses on the ceiling” were installed for the purpose of hanging décor –
and not as a symbol of lynching – the restaurant chain issued a thorough apology for the oversight. The customer complained that it was “completely unacceptable” that the Connecticut Cracker Barrel employees failed to notice that the wound ropes resembled nooses while hanging décor from the restaurant’s ceiling.
Alfonso Robinson was the diner who initially made the observation of nooses on the ceiling of the Cracker Barrel location. He shared a photo of the nooses to his Twitter account along with a caption that stated, “Someone at Cracker Barrel in East Windsor needs to explain why there are nooses on the ceiling….”
That same evening, Cracker Barrel tweeted a response to Robinson saying that the nooses were actually “an original wrapped cord” that was used to put an “antique soldering iron” on display at the East Windsor restaurant. The restaurant confirmed that they have since removed the nooses hanging from their Connecticut restaurant’s ceiling.
Following the viral incident on Twitter, social justice activists arrived at the East Windsor restaurant. PowerUp-Manchester founder Keren Prescott said that she met with restaurant manager Mark Smith and enjoyed a “positive” and “constructive” about the nooses hanging from the restaurant’s ceiling.
During the conversation with Prescott, Smith told the activist that the nooses had been hanging from the restaurant ceiling for twenty-two years – but that Robinson was the first person to notice them and publicly take issue with them in all that time. Smith invited Prescott to survey the restaurant to ensure that the establishment was not displaying anything else that was offensive.
Prescott told the Journal Inquirer: “At one point, the manager said, ‘You might notice things that I don’t,’ which I really appreciated because as a White man, he might not view certain things the same as a Black person would.”
Because this location was hanging nooses from its ceiling, Twitter users have asked Cracker Barrel to review decorations at all of their locations to ensure there are no other offensive displays.
Cracker Barrel sent a statement to Fox News, saying: “We work hard to create a culture of hospitality that’s welcoming, respectful, and inclusive to everyone who walks through our doors. Some of the historical décor in our stores may be reminiscent of earlier times, but our inclusive culture is firmly grounded in today. As we previously said, the décor item in our East Windsor store – an antique soldering iron with an original wrapped cord –
should have been noticed and corrected before ever being displayed, and it has since been removed. We are grateful to our guest who pointed it out to us so we could correct this mistake.”
What do you think about the nooses hanging from the Cracker Barrel restaurant ceiling?