A Black Woman Gets A Warm Welcome from Racist Seattle

Trish Doolin moved to Seattle from Kansas City, Missouri in September to join Nelson Inc. as chief of architecture. After depositing her first paycheck at a Kirkland branch of Key Bank, a banker identified by BuzzFeed as Thor Loberg called her back to the bank to question her about whether she really worked there—all “for the bank’s safety.”

#TrishDoolin was humiliated when a #KeyBank manager didn’t believe her paycheck was real: https://t.co/rYaT6n01wb pic.twitter.com/RRIADwVUpe
— Rickey Smiley (@RickeySmiley) October 9, 2016

Her friend, who is just identified as “Sugar,” tweeted out a screenshot of a Facebook post Doolin made after the encounter at Key Bank.

Pls. RT
When you’re 1 of a handful of Black female architects EVER and you try to cash your payroll check @keybank. pic.twitter.com/U1pndNGvFv
— bald headed Sug (@whoissugar) October 5, 2016

After holding her paycheck for several hours, the bank eventually released Doolin’s funds. She plans to switch banks, Buzzfeed reports.

“I live in a world where, no matter what’s in my brain or purse, no matter how I wear my hair, no matter how fabulous I look when I walk out the door, I’m still black,” she said. “People still clutch their purses when I walk past.” …

“When you’re black, you can’t go marching around saying, ‘I’ve been discriminated against.’” she said. “It’s that silent pain. You can still hurt, but just don’t do it too loudly.”