I just got up from conversation with a couple of older black men, that I said "well I got to go back to work and start cracking the whip." And it occurred to me then that it was probably a really insensitive stupid thing to say.
Sadly, it hadn't occurred to me until it's already said.
It originally referred to a specific meteorological phenomenom that occurs in North America consisting of late warm weather that native tribes would take advantage of to hunt. It's definition has become more general, and it's taken the place of similar phenomena around the world, but it's not related to the concept of taking gifts back.