As part of a month-long “social experiment,” a pop-up restaurant in New Orleans is asking white customers to pay extra for their meal in the name of wealth redistribution.
According to Civil Eats, the pop-up called Saartj gives white customers — and only white customers — the option to pay “$12 for lunch or the suggested price of $30” while black customers are “charged $12 and also given the option to collect the $18 paid by a white patron as a way to redistribute wealth.”
Restaurant creator Tunde Wey says that his project seeks to educate patrons on the “nation’s racial wealth gap,” using statistics, according to Civil Eats’ coverage from an EPI study that looks at income distribution broadly, similar to the debunked 22-cent “gender pay gap” statistic.
“After they order, Wey tells each diner about the nation’s racial wealth gap, pointing to stark facts, such as higher education increases a Black family’s median income by $60,000, where as it increases a white family’s median income by $113,000,” reports Civil Eats.