Nigerian addresses racial wealth inequality by asking whites to pay more for food

omotolani

March 12, 2018 4:22 PM

According to Wey Saartj is his latest socially-driven project born out of the shocking disparity between white and black wealth in America.

In New Orleans, Lousiana, local chef Tunde Wey has created a pop-up restaurant that

Wey, a Nigerian chef and writer named the pop-up restaurant Saartj, after Saartjie Baartman, a South African who was enslaved and paraded around Europe as a freak attraction because of her wide hips and large buttocks.

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Why this controversial tactic?

According to Wey Saartj is his latest socially-driven project born out of the shocking disparity between white and black wealth in America and NOLA: in 2013, the median household income for African-American households in metro New Orleans was 54% lower than for whites.

Meal Pricing

The temporary restaurant offered a single lunch plate with two pricing options: a standard price of $12, and a suggested price of $30. After telling customers about the racial wealth gap, Wey would present them with the two payment options.

"The standard price was available to all customers, while the suggested price was offered to white customers. The pricing differential represents the wage disparity between black and white households in New Orleans. The net profit collected from sales at the suggested price was redistributed to customers of colour."

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Findings From The Social Experiment

The pop-up restaurant which ran through the month of February, wasn't publicized in order to capture genuine reactions of regular diners as possible. The data collected during that time will be presented in a town hall meeting on March 15, 2018.

Wey has also already shared some findings from his social experiment, and they were majorly positive with 78% of the white guests choosing to pay the higher amount.

Did Black People Take The Extra Funds?

As for the money that was supposed to be redistributed, only six people of colour signed up to receive their share.

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