Demagogue

Rose Rock, the mother of comedian Chris Rock, claims she was recently the victim of racial discrimination at a Cracker Barrel restaurant along the South Carolina coast. Rock says she was seated but ignored for a half-hour.

This isn't the first time that Cracker Barrel has been the subject of discrimination or bias charges. Two years ago, the restaurant chain settled a federal lawsuit citing racial discrimination. The Justice Department said its investigation showed that Cracker Barrel segregated customers by race and allowed white servers to refuse to wait on African-American customers.

Worst of all, the investigation found that, in many cases, Cracker Barrel managers encouraged or participated in these bigoted practices.

Earlier this year, a lesbian in New Hampshire filed suit against the company, alleging that she was harrassed and groped by fellow employees. In the early 1990's, a memo written by a Cracker Barrel executive declared that managers should fire employees who did not "demonstrate normal heterosexual values."