[mookiemookie]

And interesting and potentially provocative question - are black folks truly worse tippers, or is it a sort of self fulfilling prophecy where the server expects to be stiffed, thus offering subpar service that one wouldn't tip for in any case?

My experience, along with that of friends in the service industry say it's the former, and not the latter. Of course you can't make a blanket judgement and say ALL black folks are lousy tippers, because they're not, but there certainly seems to be something to the stereotype.