food and race

A customer approaches the window at Saartj, a pop-up food stall in New Orleans running a social experiment. Customers of color are charged the listed $12 price for a meal. White customers are told about the income gap in New Orleans between whites and African-Americans and asked whether they want to pay $30 instead, a price that reflects the gap. Deji Osinulu hide caption

Thromentta Anderson, the owner of Pass Da Peas in northwest Milwaukee likes to greet customers by name and give them tokens toward free drinks. But he was glad to see new faces during Black Restaurant Week. Alan Greenblatt for NPR hide caption

Ho Po, a Chinese labor contractor from San Francisco, sent 150 of his countrymen to build Buena Vista. Courtesy of Buena Vista Winery hide caption

Detail of the cover of Uncle Remus, His Songs and His Sayings: The Folk-Lore of the Old Plantation, By Joel Chandler Harris. This 1880 book helped popularize the story of Bre'r Rabbit outwitting Bre'r Fox, but versions of the tale exist around the world. At heart, they're all about who controls access to food and subverting the powers that be, a new book argues. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill hide caption

Freda DeKnight was Ebony's first food editor and author of a best-selling African-American cookbook in the 1940s. Her recipes presented a vision of black America that was often invisible in mainstream media. Sierra Nicole Rhoden/Chicago Tribune hide caption

The few African restaurants in downtown Cape Town, such as Mama Africa, cater mainly to tourists. Alan Greenblatt hide caption

In his belligerently funny novel The Sellout, Paul Beatty eviscerates racial politics in the U.S. by aiming some of his sharpest stabs at that old and vicious shaming device: the food slur. Meredith Rizzo/NPR hide caption

Liagnfen Of Happy Tears, an appetizer of cold, spicy starch jelly noodles served at MáLà Project. The New York City eatery is part of a new generation of higher-end Chinese restaurants that are catering not just to American palates but also to a growing number of monied immigrants. Courtesy of MáLà Project hide caption

A platter of falafel, kafta, french fries and other fare at Al Ameer Restaurant in Dearborn, Mich. The Mediterranean eatery will be recognized by the James Beard Awards this year in the "American Classics" category. Edsel Little/Flickr hide caption

Harriet Tubman, pictured between 1860 and 1875. The woman who will soon become the first African-American to grace an American currency note self-funded many of her heroic raids to save slaves by cooking. H.B. Lindsley/Library of Congress via AP hide caption

Japanese food was once derided, but it's now in the canon of haute cuisine, says author Krishnendu Ray. How we value a culture's cuisine in our society, he says, often reflects the status of those who cook it. Alex Green/Getty Images/Ikon Images hide caption

Rick Bayless is a master of Mexican cuisine. He's also a white guy from Oklahoma. Over the years, that has made him the target of criticism. Who gets to be the ambassador of a cuisine? Sergi Alexander/Getty Images hide caption