Customers at one of the Cracker Barrel restaurants in Connecticut complained after spotting what appeared to be a “noose” hanging from the ceiling. The restaurant chain has now apologized.
Someone at Cracker Barrel in East Windsor has to explain why there are nooses on the ceiling, according to Alfonso Robinson, who uploaded two pictures of the noose on Twitter on Monday.
The restaurant later explained that the wrapped cord that resembled a noose wasn’t intended and was instead linked to one of the venue’s vintage decorations, but it nonetheless acknowledged that it was “absolutely unacceptable” that staff members hadn’t noticed the unsettling similarity.
In response to Robinson’s post, Cracker Barrel stated: “We’re sorry this happened.”
The original coiled cable on this vintage electric soldering iron shouldn’t have been visible. The product is no longer available at our East Windsor shop. Many thanks to the customer who let us know so we could fix our mistake,’ the eatery continued.
After the tweet caused an uproar, protesters visited the restaurant the following morning to speak with Mark Smith, the restaurant’s manager, about the situation.
He claimed that the object, which was taken out of the eatery on Monday, had been there for about 22 years.
Smith was met by the founder of PowerUp-Manchester, Keren Prescott, who reported having a “good” and “productive” talk with him. Together, they entered the eatery to look around for anything else that might be 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 in the same way as a Black person would.
In order to ensure that nothing unpleasant is on show, social media users are now urging the company to evaluate the decoration at each of its stores and publish a timeframe for a review.
Prescot says she’ll get in touch with Cracker Barrel’s corporate office to find out whether other locations have corresponding décor.
According to the ADL, the noose is a “key hate symbol targeting African Americans” that originated from the lynching of black people during the Jim Crow era.
‘We work hard to establish a culture of hospitality that’s friendly, polite, and inclusive to everyone who walks through our doors,’ Cracker Barrel said in a statement to Fox News.
While some of the historical decors in our locations may harken back to a bygone era, our inclusive culture is firmly rooted in the present.
As we previously stated, the decorative item in our East Windsor store, an antique soldering iron with an original wrapped cord, should have been noticed and fixed before ever being shown.
It has since been taken out of the store. We appreciate our visitor bringing it to our attention so we could fix the error.
