My grandmother from Georgia openly refers to herself and other white southerners as "Crackers", and sometimes adds a state as in "Georgia Cracker" or "Florida Cracker". She says it means simple folks who can only afford to eat crackers. I've also heard it refers to a cattle rancher who likes to crack their whip… but of course it invokes the image of a slave-master.
How broadly is this potentially pejorative expression used? Does anyone know where it really came form, or how disparaging it is?
Best Answer
The Online Etymology Dictionary traces the slur cracker “poor, white trash” either to crack “to boast” or to corn-cracker “poor white farmer.” The latter derivation is essentially the same as your grandmother's, except that the staple food of poor farmers was cracked corn, not crackers. Wikipedia notes both of those theories, plus two more related to whip-cracking (cowboys and slave drivers). Except for the cracker cowboy theory, all of them have reasonable 18c. & 19c. sources, but the “boast” theory seems oldest and most credible.
Much like N-word privileges, cracker can be a proud self-description, a dire insult, or anything in between – so it's best to avoid the word unless you're certain that you're in the privileged group, with an audience that sees things the same way, and even then you can expect some criticism from outsiders. The word seems most acceptable in Georgia and Florida, especially in the phrases Georgia cracker and Florida cracker.