WHITE BANK PRESIDENT STEALS FROM FREEDMEN

Black people in the United States have survived perpetual annihilation tactics designed to rob them of their human rights. The intentional financial marginalisation of the Black community has long fueled wealth disparity in the US between the black and white communities. The story of the Freedman's Bank is just one example.

The bank was allegedly founded to help formerly enslaved Africans build savings for future generations. One only needed a nickel to open an account. Soon, the bank had more than 61,000 depositors. However, all of the bank's trustees were white. They lobbied the US Congress to relax the bank's charter. They then proceeded to gamble the savings away. They gave money to friends. They invested in elaborate yet frivolous construction projects. When the bank collapsed, Black people lost the equivalent of $77 million when adjusted for inflation. Considering the interest they were owed, Jesse Van Tol, president and CEO of the US-based National Community Reinvestment Coalition, estimated a loss of between $118 billion and $139 billion in today's dollars.

The tragedy of the Freedman's Bank is that white people played with Black people's resources, knowing they could get away with it. And, they were right. Academics and historians who have studied the case argue a consequence was Black people lost trust in banks.

Have you heard this history before? What do you think?