Black Labor and Patronage: An Uncle Ruckus Redux?

Last week, my good friend Anthony Calypso and I had a conversation about his latest piece for TheGrio.com, which addressed a "dirty secret…that blacks don't tip well." Our chat led me to think about not just tipping but also the value that we place on each other–whether its in hiring and pay or patronage. Could it also be that black labor is considered less valuable by other black folk?

Certainly we've all heard and likely experienced the horror stories of "buying black," moments in which our desire to express racial solidarity goes awry. But we also have numerous stories of thriving black businesses and happy and loyal black patrons.

Still, I believe there is a larger conversation at play. One only has to look mainstream as a suggestion toward an answer. There is no secret that African Americans experience greater gaps in income and employment, and experience higher levels of unemployment than whites. Black women, for example, still earn just 64 cents for ever dollar earned by a white male.

So, there is that. But I wonder, have we internalized this de-valuation of each other? What do you think?

(Ok, I know this isn't exactly a "tech" topic, but over the years, I have had numerous conversations with black technologists on issues such as venture funding, access to resources, theft of intellectual property–a host of cases of black-on-black dealings that lead me to believe that the issue goes deeper than inadequate tipping. Thoughts?)

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Tags: African American, Employment, Uncle Ruckus

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