10 Shockingly Racist Moments in Restaurant History

Tipping actually had racist roots

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The practice of tipping in America first kicked off after the Civil War as a sign of wealth. But, it didn’t stay as a sign of wealth among the upper class. Restaurants wanted to hire slaves to work for them, but they didn’t want to pay them.

To work around the wage demands, restaurants hired slaves to work solely for the tips. The practice was decried by labor unions, and eventually sparked a minimum restaurant wage. Today, restaurant workers are still grossly underpaid.