Tipping is a part of our dining experience in America, but do you know how it started in the United States?

“After emancipation, two industries, the restaurant industry and the Pullman train company, both started hiring newly freed Black people. Pullman trains hiring Black men, restaurants mostly hiring Black women, telling them, you’re not going to get any wage. You’re going to live exclusively on this new thing that’s come from Europe called a tip.” explained Saru Jayaraman, the co-founder and president of One Fair Wage, a nonprofit organization advocating for minimum wage for tipped workers.

However, there are Black-owned restaurants that are creating their own legacies.

“They get paid minimum wage plus their tips, and they get to keep the tips,” said Nina Johnson, one of the owners of Jamrock Caribbean Bar and Grill on State Street in Schenectady. Johnson owns the restaurant with husband Fabian Parker. Their restaurant is creating financial independence, they said.

“Bringing a new opportunity to this market area was a great idea,” said Tiffany Wiggins, a longtime friend and employee at Jamrock.

“Getting paid minimum wage helps because some nights won’t be a great night. We might not have a great crowd. We might not have great tippers,” said Wiggins. “When you have a base pay, you don’t have to worry about if it’s good, cause you’re going to still get paid for working. So the tips is just surplus.”
In a world where tipping has been used to mask systemic inequalities, this restaurant is serving justice.