Current Events > Tipping Is a Legacy of Slavery

(+) Yeah! (+)

Freeing the slaves was bad for business for the wealthy businessmen of America because they lost a vast source of free labor. But that didnt prevent them from discovering new ways to exploit the former slaves they have abused for more than two centuries because they still wanted no-cost workers and extra coins in their pockets.

So, American restaurants and rail operators embraced tipping because it enabled them to save money by hiring newly freed slaves to work for tips alone. The tipping system was explicitly designed to keep black people poor and supply rich white people with cheap labor.

https://medium.com/@alicheaib/the-racist-history-of-tipping-83247ecdc1b7
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Everything is racist/slavery related nowadays.

This might not end well.
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I'm not saying I'm convinced, but this would explain why America has such a big tipping culture while most other countries think tipping is weird.
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The minimum wage exception certainly makes more sense in that context
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Is my car racist and/or a legacy of slavery? Should I just start walking everywhere.....wait, that to could be racist or tied to slavery somehow......hmmm

Seems like a good enough reason to abolish tipping to me. Just pay them a fair wage already. I don't care if I pay a bit more for my food.
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Sure maybe that was that way once. Many things have darker origins. That does not mean we should do away with the current version.
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marthsheretoo posted...

I'm not saying I'm convinced, but this would explain why America has such a big tipping culture while most other countries think tipping is weird.

^^^^
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Asherlee10 posted...

This might have some credibility issues from what I'm seeing on Wiki.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gratuity#United_States

Until the early 20th century, Americans viewed tipping as inconsistent with the values of an egalitarian, democratic society.[83] Also, proprietors regarded tips as equivalent to bribing an employee to do something that was otherwise forbidden, such as tipping a waiter to get an extra large portion of food.[83] The introduction of Prohibition in 1919 had an enormous impact on hotels and restaurants, who lost the revenue of selling alcoholic beverages. The resulting financial pressure caused proprietors to welcome tips, as a way of supplementing employee wages.[84] Contrary to popular belief, tipping did not arise because of servers' low wages, because the occupation of waiter (server) was fairly well paid in the era when tipping became institutionalized.[84]

In spite of the trend toward tipping as obligatory behavior, six states, mainly in the South, passed laws that made tipping illegal. Enforcement of anti-tipping laws was problematic.[83] The earliest of these laws was passed in 1909 (Washington), and the last of these laws was repealed in 1926 (Mississippi).[83] Some have argued that "The original workers that were not paid anything by their employers were newly freed slaves" and that "This whole concept of not paying them anything and letting them live on tips carried over from slavery."[85][86]

Sounds like could be a bit of both, and more evidence is just something that is outdated now really.
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Ah. Sounds more like is just what someone thinks then, rather than something factual. It certainly could make sense, but without anything to back it up, ultimately doesn't mean much.
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