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Curious Coworkers: Responsible Banking Choices · Responsibly Different™

• 0:17
  Speaker 1: Welcome to Curious Co-workers.
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: A responsibly different talk show exploring the challenges that arise when our interests conflict with our values.
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: I feel like I'm always striving to learn more and be better and in that vein I've been listening to some other podcasts that are a similar mindset to ours.
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: One of those that I want to lift up here in this episode is the Be Sweet podcast.
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: It's linked on the show page for this episode.
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: Our dear friend Ann Richardson of Richardson Media Group, based in Portsmouth, new Hampshire, is the host.
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: Ben and I originally met Ann when we were all planning the B Corp Leadership Development Conference for the summer of 2022.
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: I was listening to Ann's conversation with Charlie Cummings of Walden Mutual Bank, a pending B Corp, who is an online bank for everyone who loves local food.
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: Charlie also started and owns Walden's Local Meat, which is a certified B Corp of sustainable local raised meat, helping to connect our communities with small industry farmers throughout New England and New York.
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: Every month my household receives our share of meats from Walden's Local and we love it, so I highly recommend checking them out if you don't already know about them.
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: But the reason I bring all this up is because on that episode of the Be Sweet.
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: Charlie paraphrased a stat that he read from a Bill McKibbin article in the New Yorker, so I'm quoting Charlie here A hundred twenty five thousand dollars in a bank account is equivalent to an entire year of the average American's carbon footprint.
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: So an entire year of eating, driving, flying, buying, etc.
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: All those behaviors are the same as a hundred twenty five thousand dollars parked in a bank account with one of the top five banks in the country, and the reason is because those same five institutions are the single largest funders of fossil fuel development in the world.
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: So that was Charlie Cummings, and this quote got me thinking about where I bank and what I could be doing differently.
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: So I brought this quote up with Ben to see what he already knew and what we could learn together.
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: Here's that conversation.
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: Hey Ben, I'm wondering if I can ask you personal question about your banking situation.
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: Of course, I was recently listening to an episode on the B-suite which I know that you listen to as well, and the conversation was about banking and I just can't get it out of my head.
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: So I'm starting to think that maybe I'm putting my money somewhere where I shouldn't be and maybe the money that I'm investing is having negative effects on the environment and I just didn't know about it.
• 3:29
  Speaker 2: Yeah, no, that's super real and I think that that is.
• 3:32
  Speaker 2: I don't think you're alone in that.
• 3:33
  Speaker 2: I think a lot of folks aren't aware of the impact of our banking.
• 3:37
  Speaker 2: Also, I think that quote from Charlie is stunning really.
• 3:43
  Speaker 2: I mean, even when you know about the impacts of banking and the social and environmental impacts, to have it quantified in that way is really, really powerful.
• 3:53
  Speaker 2: So thanks for sharing that quote at the top.
• 3:55
  Speaker 2: That was amazing For me.
• 3:58
  Speaker 2: I learned about banking and the impacts of it through an economics course that I recently took, probably five or so years ago, and we read this book called the Public Banking Solution and I'll link to that, where they kind of unpack the social impacts of banking as well, which I know we're going to talk about.
• 4:19
  Speaker 2: So I'm really excited for that.
• 4:21
  Speaker 2: But for me personally, so I do the majority of my banking with a local credit union which I signed up for through my university.
• 4:31
  Speaker 2: So it's the university credit union, and that was prompted by this course, this economics course.
• 4:38
  Speaker 2: What's great about a credit union is it's a nonprofit and all of the members are part owners, and so not only do I feel like I'm, through my banking, supporting my local economy and local community I mean my car loan have a fixed like 1.8%.
• 4:59
  Speaker 2: It's pretty wild.
• 5:00
  Speaker 2: So anyway, I love my credit union.
• 5:02
  Speaker 2: I've been with them for a while now.
• 5:05
  Speaker 2: I have no intentions of leaving them.
• 5:08
  Speaker 2: That being said, I do also have an aspirations bank account and aspirations and the re and I that's more recent I think I got.
• 5:18
  Speaker 2: I signed up for that account about a year ago.
• 5:20
  Speaker 2: I have a checking and debit account over there.
• 5:22
  Speaker 2: Now, the reason why I'm sharing this is because aspiration is a certified B Corp they're one percent for the planet member.
• 5:27
  Speaker 2: But what makes them really cool and part of why I signed up is because they have pledged not to invest in fossil fuels, the gun industry, basically the list is long.
• 5:40
  Speaker 2: So basically they are committed to not invest in things that are against my personal values, which feels really, really important to me.
• 5:50
  Speaker 2: And on the consumer side, they have what they call their conscious coalition, which is a list of businesses that when you shop with those businesses, they give you 10% cashback in your account.
• 6:02
  Speaker 2: So when I purchased from Mir, which we know and love they've been on the show.
• 6:09
  Speaker 2: If you're not familiar with them, they do amazing drinkware.
• 6:12
  Speaker 2: When I purchase from MIR, I get 10% back directly into my checking account.
• 6:19
  Speaker 2: It's not a credit card, so it's really.
• 6:21
  Speaker 2: I'm a huge fan of aspiration paying for that, so I do.
• 6:24
  Speaker 2: Whenever I shop with any of their conscious coalition brands, I'm using my aspirations card.
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: Wait, wait, wait, hold on.
• 6:31
  Speaker 1: I want to just hang there for a second and say, like, where do you find out who's their conscious?
• 6:37
  Speaker 2: Conscious coalition.
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: You maybe are convinced of me and I'm like, wow, if I can get 10% back from every B Corp that I buy from, if they're a part of this list like that would be pretty mind blowing.
• 6:48
  Speaker 2: So I will say it is not every B Corp.
• 6:50
  Speaker 2: It's a list of about probably 20-ish brands, but a lot of the brands are like online stores also like Tony's Chocolonias one, but, like an example would be like Kind Humans is one of the brands.
• 7:05
  Speaker 2: So Kind Humans is like kind of like an Amazon for good type situation.
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: Yep Is Bombas on there.
• 7:14
  Speaker 2: Let me, I actually have it.
• 7:15
  Speaker 2: I'm looking at it right now.
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: I got to know because Bombas is where I've been buying everything lately.
• 7:21
  Speaker 2: Bombas is not All birds is, though.
• 7:23
  Speaker 2: I don't know.
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: Oh, okay, so maybe everybody's getting shoes for Christmas.
• 7:28
  Speaker 2: There you go, there you go.
• 7:29
  Speaker 2: We'll make sure to link to their conscious coalition in the show notes for folks.
• 7:34
  Speaker 2: The other thing that I use my debit card I think I might have misspoke earlier and said credit card I have a credit card with aspiration, I have a debit card.
• 7:43
  Speaker 2: The other thing I use my debit card for with aspiration is whenever I pay for gas.
• 7:49
  Speaker 2: So then, the reason why I do that is because any gas purchases that you do, or like fuel purchases, they automatically offset that purchase.
• 8:01
  Speaker 2: Like they do like the carbon offsetting for all your gas purchases yeah, which is pretty cool, because I do try to, at the end of each year, do like a rough estimate of my own carbon footprint and offset that.
• 8:12
  Speaker 2: What's nice is with aspiration since I'm paying for all my gas through them, I just remove all that I spend on gas for the year.
• 8:20
  Speaker 2: I just remove that out of my equation because I know they've already offset all of that.
• 8:24
  Speaker 2: That is pretty cool, that is fascinating I know this is starting to feel like an ad for aspiration bank, but like I love them, so I feel great about it.
• 8:33
  Speaker 1: I do too.
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: Let me know if you have a referral code.
• 8:35
  Speaker 1: No, I mean just like a side tip here that I didn't think about.
• 8:42
  Speaker 1: So thanks for raising this up.
• 8:44
  Speaker 1: But yeah, as conscious consumers, we should be thinking about our individual impact on the environment.
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: At the end of the year, we should can be, we can be offsetting our individual carbon footprint.
• 8:59
  Speaker 1: And what an interesting way to go back through the year and collect all of your fuel purchases, receipts and then offset that way.
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: But how cool that aspiration does that for you.
• 9:12
  Speaker 1: So I've never thought to quantify the amount of gas that I used in one year based off of the receipts or the fuel purchase that I've made, and I have access to that, so that this is an aha moment for me.
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: So thanks.
• 9:28
  Speaker 2: Well, and it's cool too, because in like, when you log into your bank account, like, of course, you can steal your financial information, but also they have, like my impact section where you can see, you know, the number, your impact, which is cool.
• 9:39
  Speaker 2: Now, all this being said, I am not perfect.
• 9:45
  Speaker 2: I do have a credit card.
• 9:47
  Speaker 2: I have an REI credit card.
• 9:49
  Speaker 2: I'm a huge anyone who knows me knows I'm a huge REI fan.
• 9:52
  Speaker 2: I will.
• 9:54
  Speaker 2: I do it for the rewards.
• 9:56
  Speaker 2: Yes, I do.
• 9:57
  Speaker 2: I get 5% back when I shop at REI.
• 9:59
  Speaker 2: Plus, I'm a member at REI, so when I combine that with my, anyway, I'm a, I'm a, I'm a, I'm a, I'm a, I'm a, I'm a huge REI fan.
• 10:08
  Speaker 2: That credit card is through Capital One.
• 10:10
  Speaker 2: Now, I just did a quick, you know, top level thing and nothing super scary popped out.
• 10:18
  Speaker 2: But, that being said, I also couldn't find anywhere that said that they don't invest in fossil fuels or they don't invest in the things that I.
• 10:26
  Speaker 2: That would conflict with my values.
• 10:28
  Speaker 2: And so I'm willing to bet don't hold me to this, I don't know this to be true, Especially folks to your own homework here but I'm willing to bet that there are some things happening at Capital One that I might not love, you know.
• 10:42
  Speaker 1: Well, and wouldn't you think that Capital One from Charlie's quote talking about a Bill McKinnon's article from the New Yorker, wouldn't you think that Capital One is one of the top five banks in the US?
• 10:59
  Speaker 1: So, without Bill quoting exact or naming exactly the banks that he was talking about, I would assume which we all know the saying about assuming, but I would assume Capital One is one of those top five banks in the US.
• 11:12
  Speaker 1: So I hear you, I agree, I don't, we can't find anything.
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: That boy in Lee says Capital One is bad, but most of these banks are somewhat investing in fossil fuel development projects that are harming the environment.
• 11:28
  Speaker 2: I mean, I will say I do have to give them credit where credit is due.
• 11:31
  Speaker 2: They are the first bank to go carbon neutral in the US and but in diving deeper into that, it sounds like that's in regards to their operations.
• 11:42
  Speaker 2: It didn't say anywhere that had anything to do with their investments.
• 11:46
  Speaker 2: So you know that.
• 11:48
  Speaker 2: And for folks that have been listening to the show for a while, you know scope that could fall under scope three.
• 11:55
  Speaker 2: So maybe they're just thinking about their scope one emissions.
• 11:58
  Speaker 2: You know we don't have to go down that rabbit hole.
• 12:01
  Speaker 2: But so there, you know, I'm sure, rei.
• 12:04
  Speaker 2: So you know REI is a co-op.
• 12:06
  Speaker 2: They've, you know I have lots of great things to say about them, I'm sure, and even REI has said that they selected Capital One, you know, because it was most aligned with their values and being able to provide members benefits.
• 12:20
  Speaker 2: But most aligned does not mean aligned.
• 12:23
  Speaker 2: So who knows, who knows?
• 12:25
  Speaker 2: But that's that's the one area where I'm like oh you know, that's where my banking, maybe that might be where I would lose points if we were grading my banking practices.
• 12:37
  Speaker 1: Well, and what I did see that I thought was interesting was in 2022, capital One was named REI, one of the 100 most influential companies from times, and they made that list for their decision to eliminate overdraft fees and non-sufficient fund fees for Capital One consumer bankers, and they're consistently recognized as one of the best places to work by Forbes and they are best employer for diversity.
• 13:11
  Speaker 1: So, to some degree, they're doing some things right.
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: If we were to scale them on I don't know, like the B Corp practices they are not a B Corp but if they were to maybe try to do the assessment, they're doing some things for their community that are good.
• 13:31
  Speaker 1: They are doing some things for their employees that are good, and it seems like they're trying to make some commitments towards protecting our environment.
• 13:41
  Speaker 1: They have an environmental page that was low hanging fruit was met, was grabbed on that page.
• 13:49
  Speaker 1: I guess I'll say there wasn't a ton of information, but they're definitely they're trying.
• 13:54
  Speaker 1: So, in the world of canceled culture, maybe I won't cancel them right now.
• 14:00
  Speaker 2: That's super real, yeah, and I think that's a great point too, that I think we wanna celebrate progression and people doing better to encourage them to continue to do better, for sure, and hopefully inspire others to do better.
• 14:13
  Speaker 1: Okay.
• 14:13
  Speaker 1: So this is, banking is definitely kind of like this subject that I feel like I know the bare minimum of.
• 14:22
  Speaker 1: I know like enough just to get by.
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: So when I was kind of doing some research to understand like what are Ben and I gonna talk about today, I did learn some tips or some words.
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: I guess I'll say that I thought maybe I'll just uplift here quickly so, in case of others who were like me two days ago and they don't know what these terms mean, maybe this will be helpful for them.
• 14:47
  Speaker 1: But there are things called mutual funds.
• 14:50
  Speaker 1: Mutual funds are investment vehicles that pool money from multiple investors to invest in a diverse portfolio of stocks, bonds or other securities, and they are managed by professional fund managers who make investment decisions on behalf of all of the funds shareholders.
• 15:10
  Speaker 1: So when you invest in a mutual fund, you're essentially buying shares of that fund or in that fund, which represent your ownership in the underlining assets that are held by the fund.
• 15:23
  Speaker 1: So I thought that was a good term for people to know.
• 15:26
  Speaker 1: Another thing that I learned was green bonds, which green bonds are a type of debt instrument issued by the government, municipalities, corporations or other organizations to raise funds for projects with positive environmental or climate related impacts.
• 15:46
  Speaker 1: So when you invest in a green bond, you're essentially lending money to the issuer in exchange for regular invested payments or coupons and the return of your principal at maturity.
• 15:59
  Speaker 1: Green bonds play a significant role in financing projects that contribute to sustainability and mitigation of the effects of climate change, and they provide an avenue for investors to direct their funds towards projects with positive environmental outcomes while still earning a financial return.
• 16:20
  Speaker 1: So it is important to research and ensure that green bonds that you're considering do meet the established environmental standards and make sure that they align with your sustainability goals.
• 16:35
  Speaker 1: And then, earlier you mentioned credit unions, and I will say I'm not oblivious to the world of banking and as I drive around, I do see that there are credit unions and nobody come at me for this but I didn't realize that credit unions were different from big corporation banks.
• 16:52
  Speaker 1: The official definition of credit unions, A credit union, is a financial cooperative owned and operated by its members.
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: So, unlike traditional banks, which are typically owned by shareholders and operated for a profit, credit unions are not-for-profit institutions that exist to serve the financial needs of their members.
• 17:13
  Speaker 1: They often range in banking services, including savings accounts, loans, checking accounts in other financial products.
• 17:21
  Speaker 1: Okay, so those three different things are definitely new for me and I think I'm going to continue to do my research so that I can be a more responsible banker.
• 18:30
  Speaker 1: But then also, when I was doing some research, I came across ESG, which ESG stands for environment, social and governance, and I guess I want to talk to you and get a little bit more of your opinion about how ESG comes into play when we're talking about banking.
• 18:51
  Speaker 1: I kind of feel like in the B Corp community there's been a little bit of this movement to continue to talk about ESG use, but it feels like there's also been this increase of anti-ESG use outside of the B Corp community.
• 19:10
  Speaker 1: So what are your thoughts when it comes to ESG in terms of banking?
• 19:16
  Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, brittany, this is such a big, loaded and important question and I love that you asked it, so I feel like you touched on a few things there that feel important to circle back up on.
• 19:27
  Speaker 2: So I think, in terms of something I heard you say was anti-ESG stuff right and I think it is we're about to come into.
• 19:41
  Speaker 2: I mean, the Republican debate was last night.
• 19:44
  Speaker 2: We're recording this on Thursday, october 24th.
• 19:47
  Speaker 2: The presidential campaigns are underway and, as a media company, we know that the political spending windows are opening up this December, which is a topic for another day.
• 19:57
  Speaker 2: But I bring this up all to say that ESG has certainly been one of the terms that has become highly politicized and has really been used as a scare tactic.
• 20:07
  Speaker 2: But, to your point, which you already said, it literally just stands for environmental, social and governance.
• 20:12
  Speaker 2: So, and it's typically used in like what is a organization's impact in those three categories, how they're making decisions as a business, their impact on the environment and their impact on, like, their workers and their community, right In the framework that we would think in B Corp land.
• 20:30
  Speaker 2: Why I feel like this is so important as it pertains to banking is because when we think about in the B Corp space we talk a lot about justice, equity, diversity and inclusion, and that equity piece is so important, right.
• 20:45
  Speaker 2: It's to just do a quick framework for folks.
• 20:48
  Speaker 2: It's People often confuse equity and equality, right.
• 20:53
  Speaker 2: Equality everybody gets the same thing.
• 20:54
  Speaker 2: Equity people get what they need.
• 20:57
  Speaker 2: And the reason why this is so important is because historically in banking, black people, communities of color, have been locked out of the ability to accumulate wealth or to pass on and participate in intergenerational wealth building.
• 21:17
  Speaker 2: And it's a big topic.
• 21:19
  Speaker 2: I don't know that we're gonna be able to like totally cover all of it here, but I think that it's so important, like.
• 21:28
  Speaker 2: I feel like we can't talk about banking without talking about some of those impacts and the way that people have historically been locked out of access to wealth building opportunities like home ownership or loans or all of that.
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: Well, and Ben, there was this really great quote from an article that I will link to in the show notes, but basically they said that in order to achieve the American dream, it requires capital, and in order to grow capital, you need to have capital, and it's a basic tenant of our economy.
• 22:04
  Speaker 1: So it feels like, as banks were leaving communities of color out, they were not letting them gain capital and therefore they couldn't grow capital and therefore they couldn't achieve the American dream.
• 22:19
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 22:20
  Speaker 1: Well and Ben, I saw this other stat from the same article, which I think is also just kind of worth uplifting.
• 22:27
  Speaker 1: But the average white American in the US has a net worth of $171,000 to their name, which is almost 10 times more than the average black family, and that's according to the Brookings Institute.
• 22:44
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean that's staggering, right, and I wish I could say that that's surprising.
• 22:50
  Speaker 2: You know, I think when we look at and this is where it's hard to and nearly impossible in my mind I hate that the term ESG has been weaponized politically and it's hard not to talk about ESG and not get into politics, because public policy has the ability to shape and change how we interact with public and private institutions and, especially in this current moment, it just feels so important I mean it's always important but yeah, so I mean thinking about as we talk about banking and as it pertains in this space, I think, doing just a high level.
• 23:35
  Speaker 2: This is certainly not comprehensive and remember, folks, this is like a 20, 30 minute talk show podcast episode.
• 23:43
  Speaker 2: So you know, definitely want to encourage you all to continue your learning and growing and we'll put some great resources in the show notes for you, some books and links and all the fun stuff.
• 23:53
  Speaker 2: But just to give you a quick overview, when we think about kind of black owned bank history, which is really important because it creates that access to capital, black communities needed access to capital and credit.
• 24:04
  Speaker 2: Therefore, black banks were formed in their communities, just like many banks.
• 24:10
  Speaker 2: So the first black bank formed in the United States was in 1865, when Congress chartered the Freedom Savings Bank for formerly enslaved folks, but the bank was mostly run by white men.
• 24:22
  Speaker 2: It attracted deposits and open branches all across the country, but it didn't last, as a board member that was part of the bank was misdirecting funds to his family.
• 24:34
  Speaker 2: Depositors lost nearly $3 million in their faith in banks, and in 1888, the first black run bank in the US was founded, and by 1906, there were 33 black banks.
• 24:48
  Speaker 2: These banks were focused on serving their community versus profitability.
• 24:52
  Speaker 2: They were known for staying open after hours for the working class.
• 24:56
  Speaker 2: They were innovative.
• 24:57
  Speaker 2: They also didn't last long.
• 24:59
  Speaker 2: On average they stayed open for five to seven years, but the first three banks lasted around 20 years.
• 25:05
  Speaker 2: So I want to share a quote with you all from Kenneth Kelly, who's the chairman and CEO of the First Independence Bank in Detroit, because it really seems to encapsulate what we're talking about here.
• 25:16
  Speaker 2: He shared these banks' histories show the perseverance of a sector of people who have had to really make their way out of no way, and so, on that note, Britt, do you want to share with folks a little bit about Black Wall Street and the Greenwood District of Tulsa?
• 25:36
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 25:36
  Speaker 1: So it was this affluent community of African-Americans and it was filled with hundreds of thriving businesses and nice houses.
• 25:45
  Speaker 1: And because of this, because of the success and this community growing, white people kind of resented the success of this community.
• 25:55
  Speaker 1: And it's sad to see that, because of this resentment, when there was a black man that was accused of assaulting a white woman and an elevator in this community, the resentment caused an exasperation of tension and it led to a race riot that ended up burning much of Greenwood to the ground.
• 26:18
  Speaker 1: So these white mobs destroyed and looted thousands of homes and it's said to believe that as much as 300 people died in these riots.
• 26:30
  Speaker 2: Yeah, that's super real.
• 26:32
  Speaker 2: That's super, super real.
• 26:35
  Speaker 1: It's hard.
• 26:35
  Speaker 1: It's just like it's sad and it's heartening to kind of see that communities of color were trying and paving their own way and just to think that another human that didn't look like you, you weren't able to see them succeed, and it makes me sad.
• 26:58
  Speaker 1: I just want to say that it's hard to learn all this history and not be affected by it as a person.
• 27:06
  Speaker 1: And doing this research for this episode and reading more up about the history of black banks getting started, it's sad.
• 27:17
  Speaker 1: So I do just want to kind of say that like it's hard to learn about history sometimes.
• 27:23
  Speaker 1: It's important, it's very important, but it's also just very hard.
• 27:27
  Speaker 2: Yeah, no, I think that that's super real and I appreciate you bringing that up because I think that that's a lot of I mean, I know that was my experience and when I was first learning about this it was really hard to.
• 27:43
  Speaker 2: It was like, oh my gosh, like you start kind of unpacking and the unpacking I feel like never ends, like there's so much to learn, and even when you think you've learned a lot, there's so much more.
• 27:55
  Speaker 2: And I guess my my perspective on it and I'll own that I don't always succeed in this.
• 28:08
  Speaker 2: I think what can be really empowering and helpful as we learn these pieces of history that are discouraging and that can make us lose our faith in humanity.
• 28:27
  Speaker 1: To be frank, at least that's been my experience, people are the worst.
• 28:34
  Speaker 2: It's really just keeping the mindset that the more we learn, the more we know, the more we're able to identify when these things bubble up in the current climate, because then it's easier to identify these patterns and see, oh, this isn't new, this has been happening for a while.
• 28:55
  Speaker 2: And here's how, for me, I take inspiration from the winds that have also happened through history, because to see what we've overcome and to see I mean, they're still so far to go and we stand on the shoulders of giants.
• 29:14
  Speaker 2: I think about the activists.
• 29:16
  Speaker 2: I get so much inspiration from activism and activists and just the average person that will never know their name, but that has done so much because they believe in the success of themselves and other people.
• 29:32
  Speaker 2: It's just really yeah, there can be strength drawn from that.
• 29:39
  Speaker 2: There can be strength drawn from that for sure.
• 29:42
  Speaker 2: So, as part of that history, this is really important to underscore.
• 29:48
  Speaker 2: So, as an example, this is just one example of how communities of color have been historically left out of the ability to accumulate wealth.
• 29:59
  Speaker 2: So, looking back, as part of FDR's New Deal coming out of the Great Depression the National Housing Act of 1934, the focus was to make home ownership more affordable by ensuring mortgages.
• 30:12
  Speaker 2: However, folks of color were intentionally left out of this.
• 30:17
  Speaker 2: The way that they did that, the Federal Housing Administration was underwriting standards to help lenders, appraisers and other real estate professionals identify who might be air quote high risk, so they could not ensure them.
• 30:31
  Speaker 2: High risk would be, in this case, code for communities of color.
• 30:37
  Speaker 2: This action, not because, to be clear, not because they were actually high risk, but because there was a perception of risk, and this is a much bigger thing to unpack in terms of our perceptions and that we won't get into for now.
• 30:52
  Speaker 2: But just trust me, bear with me here.
• 30:53
  Speaker 2: Here we go.
• 30:54
  Speaker 2: So this action was named redlining because these air quote, according to the Federal Housing Administration, high risk neighborhoods were outlined in red ink on maps, mostly being communities of color and refusing to lend to those communities.
• 31:11
  Speaker 2: This led to the acceleration of school segregation and physical barriers like highways, to protect neighborhoods from, again, air quote adverse influencers.
• 31:24
  Speaker 1: Well, and I think, Ben, to just highlight and maybe summarize everything that you're saying and putting my personal feelings to these facts, it's hard to hear that government and federal officials that were kind of grown up being told to trust and believe in Ben, that they had their own opinions that were influencing how they acted and they completely left an entire community of people out.
• 32:05
  Speaker 1: And I think redlining is a very large topic that we could talk about for hours and again we're trying to keep this episode focused on banking.
• 32:15
  Speaker 1: But I think what we're trying to highlight here is that this very this one act of trying to make housing more affordable to everybody led into this very large history of redlining, which then led into this segregation of communities, of what we still see in society, where low income communities are treated differently than moderate to high income communities.
• 32:53
  Speaker 1: And we see this school segregation, we see physical barriers and we see communities being treated differently, and it's all stemming out of something that happened back in 1934.
• 33:06
  Speaker 1: And I guess it's interesting for me to learn, and at least I'm learning it now.
• 33:13
  Speaker 1: I maybe didn't learn it when I should have, but at least I'm learning it now but it's interesting to learn that there are things that are cemented into society that we need to be actively be working to change, and something from 1934 should not be dictating how we live today, and I feel like it is.
• 33:33
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think I share like one super fast story that I feel like it encapsulates this.
• 33:37
  Speaker 2: So I'll never forget when I first learned about this, it was I was working on marriage equality in Rhode Island and we were at the State House and it was one of the.
• 33:49
  Speaker 2: It was the first day of.
• 33:50
  Speaker 2: It was the day of public hearing and myself and some of the other organizers were at the State House super early and we had to like hold space in the line for because we wanted to pack the hearing with our supporters.
• 34:04
  Speaker 2: So we're like holding space in line for for community members that supported marriage quality.
• 34:10
  Speaker 2: I remember sitting on the floor in that State House and talking with this organizer of color and he I don't even remember how we got to talking about, how we got into talking about race or history, any of this, but I'll never forget it.
• 34:28
  Speaker 2: He, he said he looked me like square in the eye and he was like.
• 34:32
  Speaker 2: He was like I don't know you, you don't know me, but I know that because you're white, like if or when your parents pass, you're probably going to inherit something.
• 34:44
  Speaker 2: He was like you can safely say, without knowing me, looking at me as a black man though my parents die, I'm not getting shit, Like.
• 34:52
  Speaker 2: And then I and I just had this, like what, like I did, like it totally blew my mind.
• 34:56
  Speaker 2: And then he like, like was like here's this like history, and I just was like, wow, you know, like one I felt super honored that he shared that with me and it just felt like such a poignant.
• 35:12
  Speaker 2: You know, not that we want to be making assumptions of people, that's not my point but just but just that idea of how decisions made 100 years ago ripple through to today, you know, and decisions are still being made today right, how those impact us, and so I.
• 35:30
  Speaker 2: It's real and the the reality is we're really not that far away from when we enslaved people.
• 35:35
  Speaker 2: I mean, it was only 200 years ago, you know, yeah, yeah, there's.
• 35:42
  Speaker 2: We still have a lot of growing to do, for sure.
• 35:46
  Speaker 1: Thanks for sharing that story, Though I can see how something like that could stick with you, and I feel like that's something that will kind of stick with me.
• 35:53
  Speaker 1: So thank you, Music.
• 36:09
  Speaker 1: Thank you for tuning into this episode.
• 36:13
  Speaker 1: We wanted to leave you with some information around banking that might help you to support Black-owned banks.
• 36:20
  Speaker 1: Please share them with your community and your place of work.
• 36:24
  Speaker 1: Scaling Capital Minority banks are facing a situation where the costs related to following rules and regulations, as well as expenses for technology, are increasing faster than the rate at which their banks are growing.
• 36:40
  Speaker 1: This challenge is making it worsened by the fact that their profits are being squeezed.
• 36:45
  Speaker 1: By investing in minority banks, we can help them become more efficient, Generating Revenue Opportunities.
• 36:53
  Speaker 1: More companies, governments and both state and federal agencies should use the service of minority banks.
• 37:01
  Speaker 1: By doing this, it would not only help these institutions make money during the current economic slowdown, but also improve their overall health.
• 37:10
  Speaker 1: And when considering deposits, the importance of gathering deposits has decreased.
• 37:17
  Speaker 1: It's not as important anymore.
• 37:20
  Speaker 1: While a couple years ago, local banks would have greatly benefited from having more deposits, there's currently plenty of money available.
• 37:27
  Speaker 1: Part of this is due to various businesses like Netflix and PayPal having shifted millions of dollars in deposits to minority banks in support of the social justice movement.
• 37:39
  Speaker 1: And lastly, for employers, giving your employees quicker access to their paychecks is important.
• 37:47
  Speaker 1: We did a whole episode with Pay Active and they talk about the gap between when somebody earns their pay versus when they get that pay.
• 37:56
  Speaker 1: This time lag can have people participating in predatory lending practices that can damage somebody's financial health.
• 38:05
  Speaker 1: Thanks for tuning into this episode of Curious Co-workers.
• 38:09
  Speaker 1: Until next time, be responsibly different.