< Previous www.TerryLowry.com July 2020 10 The Anti-Family Attack against the “Racist” Cracker Barrel In 1966, Mao Zedong launched his “Cultural Revolution.” He decided that Red China’s great- est enemy was tradition. He made war on what he called “The Four Olds.” These consisted of old ideas, old customs, old culture, and old habits. It seems the left in America is borrowing Mao’s old ideas. In the name of changing the “racist” culture, it is attacking the restaurant chain, Cracker Barrel. “The Old Country Store” Indeed, Cracker Barrel is an American version of Mao’s Four Olds. Their buildings look like rustic farmhouses on steroids, with rocking chairs on an extended front porch. Their menus consist of fare designed to make visitors think of Sunday dinner at Grandma’s. The walls resemble a cross-section of America’s attics, featuring old photo- graphs, tools, and signs for prod- ucts that have not been pro- duced since the Tr uman Administration. Even on the hottest summer day, a fire crackles in the large stone fireplace. The “Fast Facts” page on the cor porate web site sums up the intend- ed effect. “When our founder, Dan Evins, opened the f irst Cracker Barrel [in 1969], he was passionate about recreating the old country stores from his child- hood…. Crackers used to be delivered to those old country stores in barrels, and people would congregate around them to discuss the news of the day…. Since the restaurant was meant to help people reconnect with friends and family over a good meal, it was a fitting name.” The menu does tend toward Southern dishes – country- fried steak and catfish are prominent features. This stands to reason since the corporation is based in Tennessee. Yankee pot roast, Great Lakes perch and New England boiled dinners are not on the menu. Frappuccino is unavailable. There is not an avocado in sight. Attacking America’s Past This vague Southern-ness is now drawing the left’s wrath. According to an article on the BPR (bizpacreview) website, the campaign began with a Twitter entry by “Diversity and Inclusion Advocate” April Reign. April’s opening shot at Cracker Barrel was typical. “Open the door to a Cracker Barrel and you get a whiff of Jim Crow. And biscuits.” One of April’s respondents shot back. “Y’all ever walk in a place that just FEELS racist?” Another entry reads, “Cracker Barrel feels like walking in a place that was just desegregated three hours prior but the breakfast is okay.” The dialogue over the racist feel is having some traction on social media. It does not take much for something like this to go viral in the present atmosphere of tension. From one moment to the next, Cracker Barrel could be impacted and even boy- cotted for the crime of “feeling” racist. Feelings are More Important than Facts The desire to f ind racism inside the restaurant goes to great extremes. Some leftists interpret the restaurant’s name as racist. They claim the term “cracker” refers not to the biscuit but the pejora- tive term referring to a poor Southern white. This is at odds with the idea in Mr. Evins’s mind when he founded the restaurant. It makes no sense that he would name a busi- ness with a derogatory term that would offend both white and black customers. Edwin Benson11 July 2020 www.TerryLowry.com Weekdays 2:00 to 3:00 PM on AM 1120 The Bridge – Austin. Visit www.TerryLowry.com Nor can a serious historian of the African-American experience argue with Cracker Barrel’s décor or menu. The front porch rocker is just as much a part of the rural black experience as it is of the rural white. Often the framed photographs found in Cracker Barrel locations depict black men and women. The Cracker Barrel menu shares many items in common with those of “soul food” restaurants. According to Wikipedia’s “Soul Food” entry, typical meals features fried chicken, macaroni and cheese, fried okra, and cornbread, all staples at Cracker Barrel. Nor does Cracker Barrel have any history of discrimination. African-Americans are fre- quently seen in their dining rooms, both as staff and guests. Celebrating Tradition and Family Cracker Barrel represents a threat because it evokes memories of family and tradition. A taste of chicken and dumplings “just like grandma used to make” can turn the mind to other thoughts of grandma – and of the principles and values that grandma represented. Mao understood this. He ordered that the items that represented “the Four Olds” destroyed. As long as these things existed, they beckoned to Chinese society to return to the old order. Nostalgia for any aspect of the world before Mao had to be stamped out. Some Black Lives Don’t Matter www.TerryLowry.com Jul 2020 12 By Marilyn M. Singleton, MD, JD Igrew up in a seg r eg ated neighborhood where within three months of our Doberman’s death, our house was burglarized 4 times. Thus, a new architectural feature: burglar bars. I can’t imagine my old neighbor- hood with no police to protect us. Our experience reflected the 2016 and 2019 studies show- ing no racial bias in police shootings—what Harvard’s Roland G. Fryer Jr. called “the most surprising result of my career.” Year after year, this Boomer Black woman has seen the country change for the better. It was the ever-present burglar bars that made me appreciate integration all the more. Now I can live in any neighborhood I choose. As Black people moved through an integrated society, negative attitudes changed. The ‘Great Society’ Has Spent Trillions. On What? While the Great Society’s federal poverty programs helped around the edges, the rules for some programs encouraged mothers to jettison their children’s father from the home. Fatherless children are more likely to be high school drop-outs, thus limiting their opportu- nities for the future. There must be more to social policy than throwing federal dollars at “the under- served.” Reliance on government money is the road to a permanent low income. This saps the recipient of dignity and the spirit of achievement. Welfare programs hurt more than they have helped by marrying the recipients to the government. Black Panther Minister of Information Eldridge Cleaver said it well: “What we have to do is organize people in free institutions that can put them to work, and then they can draw their living out of our economy, not out of the federal treasury. …If we [create projects] through the state like President Roosevelt did with the New Deal, you augment the power of the state. But if you do it through decentralized structures that are controlled by the people, then we maintain our freedom, within a free institution.” Intact Families Matter – A lot Black activists complained that cities were run by White men. For years we’ve had Black mayors, chiefs of police, and school superintendents. Sadly, little has changed. As of 2013, only 59 percent of Black males finished high school. High school drop-outs have a 70 percent chance of going to prison. Black folks cannot partake of the opportunities in front of them without a good education. Many times, the worst teachers are shunted to poor neighborhoods with substan- dard schools. Meanwhile, “progressives” bow down to the unions and oppose school choice, and paradoxically champion the free flow of illegal aliens for cheap labor thus displacing Black high school drop-outs from these unskilled jobs. SJWs and White Teenagers to the Rescue Social Justice Warriors and White teenagers from well-heeled neighborhoods seem to think there were no successful Black folks until the SJWs decided to rescue us. My grandfather graduated from a White medical Marilyn M. Singleton, MD, JD13 July 2020 www.TerryLowry.com school in 1905. My mother’s “big sister” became a dentist in the 1940s. Repeat: Black female dentist, 1940s. Oh yes, the SJWs lovingly suggest you read self-flagel- lating books about how every White person is a racist. Why don't they ever suggest 1950s tennis trailblazer Althea Gibson’s “I Always Wanted to Be Somebody.” Or “Why Should White Guys have All the Fun” by Reginald Lewis, a poor Black kid who attended college on a schol- arship and Harvard Law School, worked his way up in the financial world of leverage buy-outs, and in 1987 bought Beatrice International for $985 million. Who Are ‘Uncle Tom’s? Predictably, the SJWs f ind an excuse for why some Blacks are able to make something out of their lives and are eager to blame faceless White devils for the failures of Black folks. Tell this to a regular guy from Twitter: “I’m a 33 year old Black male and I have NEVER been oppressed. . . I can buy a car, I can buy a home, I can obtain a passport, I can WORK. I love this great country and proud to be an American. . .” Of course, he was labelled with the obliga- tory Uncle Tom moniker. Decades of Democrat Rule Didn’t Help Urban Poverty? Democrats had the presidency, the House, and the Senate for 2 years during Barack Obama’s presidency. It’s curious that there were no mass nationwide protests under Obama’s watch, even with police-involved deaths. Did the civil rights advocates think he was actually doing some- thing for Black people? Was he given a pass because he is Black? Of course, giving Black people a pass is so racist; it implies that Black people are not up to the task. What is going on now is beyond protesting. It is sick, cult-like behavior. White people kneeling in front of Black people professing their brokenness and begging forgiveness. For what? The immutable trait of their skin color? What about the descendants of Black slave owners? If you can find them, they should probably be thrashed. I would have not a scintilla of respect for anyone who knelt before me and apologized for being alive. There Are Racists in America. Not All Are Racists Let’s stipulate that some people (both Black and White) are actual racists. Tarring all people with the same brush is a dangerous road to travel and risks the loss of good will. While protesters say they want a conversation about race, why would anyone converse with a disdainful over- lord wannabe who has determined that you are lower than a wor m’s belly at the outset? This is a recipe for a race war, not peace. As a physician, I cannot ignore the plain fact that the people who champi- on social distancing and mask shaming are silent about the current large gatherings of protesters standing shoulder-to- shoulder. This must be one smart virus that can tell the difference between anti-economic lockdown/let me feed my family protesters and Black Lives Matter pro- testers. Black Lives Killed In Chicago Must Not Matter And why do only some Black lives matter? Nineteen persons were killed in Chicago during the last weekend of May as the Black Lives Matter protests rolled on. With its Black superintendent of police and Black mayor, from January 1 to June 1, 2020, Chicago had 236 homicides, 165 of whom were known to be Black. None were killed by the police. Most were under 30 years old. Where are the national television stories and public vigils? Unprovoked Attack in NYC www.TerryLowry.com July 2020 14Harris County Citizens Attacked 15 July 2020 www.TerryLowry.com On June 23, 2020, a deputy with Constable Mark Herman's Off ice responded to the 17100 block of Timberforest Drive in reference to a female who was shot with a paint-ball gun. The complainant advised she was walking down the street when an unknown suspect(s) in a white vehicle shot her in the back of her neck with a paint- ball. Deputies located another victim walking who had also been shot twice in the back and a few others who had been shot at but were not hit. All the victims provided deputies with the same suspect vehicle description. Several Deputy Constable's began searching for the vehicle and it was quickly located near the 11900 block of Will Clayton Parkway. The driver and passengers were identified as 17 year old Malachi Goodson, 18 year old Davin Chatman and 18 year old Douglas Wooten. Located inside the vehicle were two paint-ball guns and an unspent paint-ball round. During the traff ic stop, Constables identif ied all (3) suspects and had to release them until a thorough investi- gation could be completed. Constable Deputies conducted an investigation and were able to obtain arrest warrants for all (3) three suspects. “Malachi Goodson, Davin Chatman and Douglas Wooten were all charged with class A Assault and all three are currently working on turning themselves in to authorities. Their bonds are set at $100.00 out of County Court 11.” - Constable Mark Herman Doug Wooten David Chatman Malachi GoodsonOpal Tometi Alicia Garza Patrisse Khan-Cullors By Compilation from the Call Notes Heritage Action / Heritage Foundation It’s never been clearer that the left is waging war, not just in political and policy arenas, but in every aspect of society. [We all] must understand the true motives of the left and their center of gravity. Black Lives Matter as a movement, or at least a slogan, recently has attracted broad support in favor of racial equality. Two-thirds of Americans say they either strongly or somewhat support the Black Lives Matter movement, according to a recent Pew Research poll. We urgently need to educate our community and elected officials about the Black Lives Matter organizations’ true agenda. Founders are self-declared Marxists The three women who founded Black Lives Matter Global Network, Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometi are self-declared Marxists. Cullors said in a revealing 2015 interview that “Myself and Alicia in particular are trained organizers. We are trained Marxists.” All property was obtained by theft Unfortunately, many today don’t realize what Marxism is. Marxism subscribes to the belief: All property is theft. Whether it’s your house or your car, everything that would belong to you, instead would belong to the state. It’s redistribution of wealth. Communism is simply another name for Marxism. It is a failed, harsh political experiment. Disrupt nuclear family BLM’s website reveals their intent to radically and completely transform America. They aim to “disrupt the Western-prescribed nuclear family structure.” One partner organization, the Movement for Black Lives, calls for abolishing all police and all prisons. This anti-American agenda is not what most people signed up for when they first aligned themselves with the movement, and perhaps inadvertently the organization, nor do many of them understand it today. That is why it’s so important we educate friends, family, and elected officials on the radical nature of many of these organizations. 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