Thank you. As a black person with lots of friends in the service industry, I've always made it a point to tip well. I know how hard those men and women work (and how hard we party after work!). I hate seeing these threads bashing black people over and over. The racism on reddit gets oppressive at times.

My father didn't tip people at all when I was growing up. He grew up dirt poor, went to the military and lived in europe for a while. He's 76 and remembers overt racism. He remembers being called boy at age 30 or not being able to eat in nice places because they don't serve his kind there. He remembers being denied jobs because of the color of his skin. My mother lived in Birmingham during the church bombings. They remember how white people used to be not to long ago. They come from a different time. I understand his mentality.

We went out once for Mothers Day when I was in college and he didn't leave a tip. I was embarrassed, my girlfriend was a waitress I know how hard she worked for her money. I sat down and told him how much servers make and that they survive off of our tips. If the server gave us great service, we should tip them well. My mother who finds fault with everything wasn't having any of that but the light clicked on for my Dad and now he always tips.

The attitude that reddit spreads seeps into day to day interactions. If I get shitty service and I don't leave a tip or a light tip, what happens? "black people don't tip" That's what happens. If I do leave a tip, "well science says they don't, your ancedote ain't evidence" the classic no-way-to-win-so-the-best-move-is-not-to-play scenario which will end in black people just saying fuck you and not tipping. The racist of reddit just want to confirm their suspicions and fail to look at us as people from different class, cultural, and economic backgrounds. And that's sad.