March 12, 2018 - 17:10 AMT
A restaurant in U.S. charged white customers more than black ones

A New Orleans restaurant is facing backlash after the owner decided to charge white customers more than black customers in the name of wealth redistribution, Cw39.com reports.

One of the many pop up restaurants in the Roux Carre Market is opening a month long pop up restaurant where white patrons are being asked to pay $30 and black customers are asked to pay $12.

The $18 difference will then be issued to the black customers.

According to NPR, the price difference is said to be a social experiment to shine emphasis on the income difference between the two races. In New Orleans the median income for African American households is $25,806. It’s $64,377 for white households.

“When I tell black folks what’s happening, 90 percent of them start laughing, like, ‘For real?’ They’re tickled,” Chef Tunde Wey says. “White folks,– there’s this blank–,” he said amid laughter, “—this blank look. They’re like, ‘Huh, okay.’”

The name of the pop up Saartj, is also taking some heat after one Twitter user posted its relationship to the famous slave Sara “Saartjie” Baartman who was placed on display, and presented as a freak throughout Europe in the 19th century.

The social media reactions have been mixed with some calling out the restaurant for reverse racism and others praising Wey for for sparking a much needed conversation.