Myth Buster #3: Banks Don’t Care What Color you Are

On this payday, Amber and Erika are continuing the “Myth Busters” series, debunking the erroneous statement that banks are race neutral and “don’t care about color”. Dr. Justene Hill-Edwards, University of Virginia professor and author of “Savings and Trust: The Rise and Betrayal of the Freedman’s Bank”, joins us to discuss the first bank in American history created for Black Americans. Not only does Dr. Hill-Edwards’ book offer insight into the challenges faced by the formerly enslaved during Reconstruction and the Gilded Age, but it also illuminates the racism and inequity that is foundational to the American banking system. Furthermore, her work demonstrates that financial literacy has been used as a tactic to shift blame to Black people for financial issues that we did not create and cannot fix. Listen in to “take a look, because it’s in a book” that banks do actually care about color!

This episode is supported, in part, by the Jane Nelson Institute for Women’s Leadership and the Texas Woman’s University Quality Enhancement Plan.