Comments

2
Same thing happened to me when I first arrived here. In that case it was SeaFirst bank (they still around?). I had to wait more than a week for my first pay check to clear. Really sucked.

But I'm white. And male. So no cause du jour to make. I just had to smile and wait.
3
Yeah, MikeyC, but did you have to return to the bank after the deposit and stand in front of the bank agent and explain how your job was legit, and are you sure you really had that job? No? You just had to smile and wait? Probably because you're white. And male. Congratulations!!!!!
4
How does the behavior of an apparently racist bank manager translate to "racist Seattle"? I'm not suggesting that Seattle is or is not racist, just that the article does not even try to support the most important assertion in the headline.
6
@3: I think that's exactly the point MikeyC is already making.
7
*racist Kirkland
8
@3 - "...did you have to return to the bank after the deposit and stand in front of the bank agent and explain how your job was legit, and are you sure you really had that job? "

Actually, yes I did. They didn't call me (I had no cell phone then) but I found out that I had no access to the money when I tried to get some. Then *I* called them, found out why I couldn't get that money, was pissed off, they explained why, I brought in proof of employment (my ID card), my utility bill (I don't know why I brought it, probably thinking it would prove I lived where I said I did) and some other documents....It is rare that throwing a fit helps but I very nearly did.

In the end I had to just eat the indignity of their policy and wait.

I haven't seen a SeaFirst bank in awhile. I do hope they died a painful death.
9
@5 Yeah - I know. That's what the SeaFirst bank told me when they did the same thing to me. I get why they feel they need to be careful with new accounts. Still, it's deeply frustrating.
10
@9, it wasn't a new account, it was just a new job
11
for HER I mean, not for you
12
@5, I'm shocked that you think the best way to verify funds is to call somebody into the bank and grill them, which for example does not help with contacting the "bank that issued the check." I mean, I've had to wait for my funds from a check too. We all do. But I've never been called in to account for how I got that check and is it real. whf?
13
What is a "Chief of Architecture"? I have never heard that job description before.

Is it like "Design Principal" or "Managing Partner"?
14
Ms Doolin, please consider using a community credit union. Such institutions are far more likely to be concerned mainly with the economic well-being of the community where they're located.
15
@10 - well then, that IS different. I thought it was a new account AND a new job (as it was in my case).
16
Inconvenient Truth:
Whenever a white institution/individual has an interaction (business transaction, social encounter, etc, whatever) with a person of color, if that PoC is dissatisfied with the encounter, even if the white institution/individual did nothing wrong, there is a chance the white i/i will be publicly outed and shamed; even if they did absolutely nothing wrong.
It is an flavour of Leftist Racism the Left refuses to acknowledge.
17
Oh great. The idigit troll is here.

Off this thread.
18
I'd hate to tell you, every city in the country is plagued with racism. There's nothing "Seattle" about it.
19
On the way home she was also stopped by one of those racist stoplights. FIGHT THE POWER!
20
#14 yes, you'll find that credit unions offer a much better deal in all sorts of ways. Paper check fraud is as common as dirt now and happens every hour of every day and comes in an infinite variety of scams targeting individuals, banks, businesses, and even the government. White male strangers bearing checks can expect the same treatment or worse.
21
I worked in compliance and fraud detection at a major bank for a while and I can verify that with new accounts all deposits receive extra scrutiny. Whether the check is payroll, personal, or cashiers, or whether it is a cash deposit, there are entire departments that monitor what goes on looking for signs of money laundering or fraud. In my own investigations I would find that a listed business did not exist, or the building the business operated out of had no record of them being there, that the "employee" had been fired months earlier, that someone had cashed a payroll check at a money service business, except the MSB had not deposited the check and had sold it to someone trying to launder money or hide assets, the list goes on and on. 90% of the time it was nothing - the red flags were legitimate but innocent, like here.

That said, this is only one data point. Looking at the patterns of teller reported suspicious activity would provide better info about whether African American customers are flagged more frequently than their white counterparts.
22
Seething. I hope and wish that the bank makes this as right as it can, and that we can prove to Trish this is not who we are.
23
Easiest way to see how racist is Seattle?

Ask why the electorate didn't demand serious police reform a decade ago. Without the intervention of the Federal government, the people of Seattle would have gone on telling the Mayor and Council their top priorities were potholes and bike lanes and plastic bags. Not cops who beat and shoot people and answer to nobody.

White Seattle hears these stories about things that happen to other people, and they disapprove, but they don't see it as their own problem. Imagine if Cascadia were a thing. Seattle self-governing? There'd be nobody to tell the city they had to protect everyone's rights. Had to. Actually do it, not just talk, and name things after MLK, like white people do.

There's no better example of white privilege than thinking nobody around here really needs Washington D.C. to tell them what to do.
25
Actually had that happen to me when I got a job here after moving from BC. Also white and male. They held my funds 10 days. Think it was SeaFirst.
26
You creep people the fuck out, Will. You know that.
29
banks suck, as do most "financial institutions," a bunch of white porky pigs with their locker room talk and cocaine snorting racist, misogynistic, hateful ways. Banks Suck!
30
It never ceases to amaze me that so many self-proclaimed progressive cities are only progressive when it come to white, wealthy people. People in Seattle care more about where their food is sourced than they do about homeless people or non-white citizens. The cognitive dissonance and hypocrisy is astounding.
31
If only our society had some institution where people could go interview the people involved in a situation, and then report their findings to us in an impartial and balanced way. We could call it a newspaper. Maybe that would shed some light of whether this is policy or racism. Id love that.
32
Did the reporter ask Key Bank for a statement?
If so, -- whatever the answer or non-answer -- should be part of the story.
If not, that's The Stranger and why it is not a real newspaper.
33
I wonder what would have happened if she had pulled out a phone and begun video recording the interaction.
34
@31: Nice idea, but it'll never get off the ground.
35
@32, The Stranger didn't report on the story, Buzzfeed did. If you RTFA conveniently linked by slog you'd know the answer to your question.

She has a legitimate beef. If this were a white dude, I have little doubt this incident would have happened. That said, I do have some questions.

The woman's company was moved here and direct deposit hadn't kicked in yet. Is her experience similar to every employee who is moved here and does not yet have direct deposit? They are usually called in to be subjected to a bank employee's barrage of questions in order to quell their disbelief? She had just opened the account, yes? Is this standard for every new customer depositing a check from their employer?

The last thing any white dude is going to admit is that he holds racial biases, but it doesn't mean it's unfathomable. It's especially not unfathomable to non-white, non-dude people whom are just as accomplished and intelligent as a white dude banker in a rather white part of the region. I see no reason to disbelieve her. She is a black woman so I assume she is more knowledgeable about how she is treated, and in fact I would trust her powers of observation over a white person's regarding matters of race. I know in some freaky parallel universe all white guys are perfect, but I reside in reality.
36
Thesis the ultimate example of not seeing people of color, specifically black people, as member s of the community; not seeing people of color beyond the stereotype; no seeing people of color beyond a station or profession that requires non basic knowledge to hold. It is an example of the engird banks use to put forth in the practice of red lining and failure to extend loans. It is subjugating her to a second class citizen because that is the practice of the institution.
37
Pretty sure that the only racist in this story is the lady who thinks every white person with a job to do is out to get her. Key Bank doesn't exist in her home state, and she's only been here a Month, so she showed up and opened an account with out of state ID, and a (likely large) Check from a company in a third state... I think it's a safe bet that they went above and beyond to try and release some funds early, and this is how she thanked them.
38
@35
True everyone has implicit bias and needs to check themselves. There are no exceptions.

The Stranger has a responsibility, if it wants to be a serious newspaper, to check others' views on what happened on such a weird and explosive story.
One eyewitness, no matter how credible, is not complete story, especially when it would be very easy to call up another participant such as the Bank.

I am not doubting the architect but I'm curious to see what the bank would say.
39
Not to change the subject but we noticed Ana was ripping on Columbus ("a European who murdered and enslaved Natives in North America") while patting us on the back for observing Indigenous Peoples' Day instead of Columbus Day.
We wonder if Ana is aware of the amount of genocide and slavery Indigenous Peoples unleashed on other Indigenous Peoples?
Is she aware of the total body count of Indigenous Peoples' murders, vs that of Chris?
Sounds like a case of BLMish blinders, ignoring massive amounts of murdered people of colour (zillions, by our count) killed by other PoC and focusing on a relatively few committed by The Man (CC, in this case)
The Truth will set you Free.
40
This exact situation has happened to me time and time again. Having funds held when you can't even afford food is horrible and makes it very stressful.

Strange thing is, I'm a white male. So I guess the banks were racists AND sexist towards me when they'd hold funds from a paycheck.
41
Additionally, the term indigenous is factually false when applied to these groups,
chosen for it's propaganda value.
The celebrated groups are not indigenous to this area;
they came from somewhere else (just like the evil Caucasians);
they displaced the inhabitants they found here (just like the evil Caucasians).

It is interesting how different the attitude of the Left is to the Caucasians who immigrated to this land, compared to the Illegal Aliens currently coming to the area.

The understanding and tolerance the Left demands for the current wave contrasts with the contempt they feel for the Caucasians;
the sympathy they feel for so called indigenous peoples here when Caucasians were the immigrants is in stark contrast to the hostility they feel for the settled Caucasians here now.

It seems the defining virtue (or vice) is not being settled or immigrating;
it is that Caucasians are always evil,
whether they are immigrating or the "indigenous" inhabitants.

Another flavour of Leftist Racism.
42
@41:

Yeah, because there's absolutely no significant cultural difference between the indigenous people Columbus "discovered" when he reached North American and himself, so what could a mere 15,000 years (more or less) occupation of the continent mean in this context? And of course, by taking your interpretation of the term, we would be forced to conclude that in fact no member of Homo Sapiens Sapiens can be considered "indigenous" to their place of origin, aside perhaps from a handful of tribes currently residing in Tanzania. So, I guess in that sense everything belongs to them, since they were literally here first, right?
43
“People still clutch their purses when I walk past.” ...

That's the part that bothers me. Key Bank does not represent Seattle. But people clutching their purses because she's walking by? Are people really that paranoid or did they just get off the boat from Small Town Ville? People in cities will be protective of their stuff, sure, but to make it that obvious to this particular lady is bizarre. It just makes the purse clutcher look slightly Koo Koo.
44
My mother went through the same thing at SeaFirst in the late 60's or early 70's. (I was a small child back then and didn't hear about it until later.) She was a doctor, and during the grilling "interview" it came out that they didn't believe a black woman could be making that kind of money. She left that bank right away.

Later on, when I would get paid for my job in a convenience store, it was easier to go across the street to the SeaFirst branch where the check was drawn rather than my "home" branch of Washington Mutual. Never got hassled about whether I really worked at the convenience store, but they kept trying to pressure me into moving my account there. (Being polite and saying "no thank you, I'm happy with my bank" was not convincing, apparently.)
45
@44 cont'd - Mom never got hassled or had funds held for verification by her new bank.
46
BTW, I visited LinkedIn, and Ms. Doolin is a "Job Captain", which I presume means "Project Manager".
47
"Indigenous people" is claim for moral superiority.
Your call if you believe it.
48
My wife (then girlfriend) had the exact same thing happen to her at Wells Fargo when she moved to Seattle. But she walked into the branch looking very much like white trash. Branch implied that her payroll check was fake/stolen, implied the midwestern bank the check was drawn on was not even real, refused to cash it, wanted to hold 100% of the funds for two weeks if she tried to deposit it. It wasn't even a big check, just pay from a minimum-wage job!

She needed the cash immediately to clear up late bills and the overdrawn Wells Fargo account racking up fees. Walked out of the bank, got the check cashed immediately at Money Tree for a very low fee, took the cash back to Wells Fargo, deposited enough to clear the overdraft, and closed her account. Used the rest to open a new account at another bank who didn't blink at her payroll checks.
49
Most banks will withhold a fraction of funds from large check deposits from new sources. VERY few withhold the entire check, and fewer still will withhold funds from identifiable payroll checks.
50
Newsflash: banks screw everyone, injecting race it to everything is more paranoid than helpful.

And there's no silent suffering when you go as public as possible with your gripe. Believe it or not but asians and white people encounter lousy customer service too, it's not just a conspiracy against black people.
51
So, anyone else notice Posse Comita-whatever keeps making these right wing posts to thin air? Seriously. MikeyC is doing the altwhite thing too, but at least he has a conversation going. I counted 7 paragraphs and about 2 pages worth of unanswered dialogue to no one.

I know Shitposting is now the official thing of the Trump Altright (altwhite), but thats not whats happening. Shitposting has a humor, trollish element. Dude is having a conversation defending racism, attacking black people, and pulling false equivalence arguments out of thin air, and no one is talking to him.

I wanted to call troll, but it feels kinda sad. Its like posting a picture of your breakfast on facebook, then posting it again, then commenting on it and liking it yourself.
52
@50

So, because banks suck, this bank being racist should get a pass? Or are you saying banks suck, but arent racist because [you didnt explain that either]?

You cant say what this bank did was shitty, but racism should matter, because the thing that made the banks actions shitty was the racism. Either it wasnt shitty and wasnt racist, or it was shitty because it was racist.

Also, because you dont like hearing about racism doesnt mean it doesnt exist.
53
52

We can help you out here, Sport.

We'll keep it simple.

If the banks are shitty to everyone,
then when they happen to be shitty to a Person of Colour it is not racism,
because they are shitty to everyone.

Sort of like how rain is not racist,
even if it falls on a Person of Colour,
because it is also falling on everyone else.

Does that clear it up?

you're very welcome.
54
The exact same thing happened to me when I moved here.

Doesn't seem like proof of anything except that Banks offer lousy customer service..
55
The most sickening and tragic part of the story is that, because she is black, she can’t go marching around saying, ‘I’ve been discriminated against.’”
That silent pain, knowing that no one on the face of the earth has any idea what happened to you; well, it's just indescribable.
56
@9 had the stranger bothered to tell the whole story you would have found out that her account was also new.

" told that because her account had not been open for 30 days, the bank had to hold her paycheck for nine days to verify the funds"

"KeyBank typically places a hold on deposited funds during the first 30 days after a customer has opened a new account."
57
Sorry @9, that should have been @10

Please wait...

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