Ok, so I am not one of those people to think that every single little thing has to do with race, nor am I racist, etc. However, David and I have been wondering if we're not experiencing some reverse racism. The town in which we live is about 50/50 white/African American. I could care less. I mean, I grew up in Africa and after living 4 years in a town that was pastey white it's nice to be back in an area that has some color to it! We are fairly new customers at our bank. We had to move all of our money elsewhere when we moved from MI because the bank we had used there was only a county bank. We chose a national bank and from the start have loved it! That is, until we moved here. We found the closest branch to us and every single time we go in there we feel we are being prejudiced against. It's a strange feeling, to be sure. We are wondering how to handle the situation. Do we ignore it? Call and talk to the branch manager? But, we do know it's quite obvious the color of our skin is affecting the service we are given.
Here's a perfect example: The other day I had to deposit some checks and used the drive thru (I had Cora and didn't want to get her in/out of the car seat). I saw NO ONE in the bank, customer or employee, when I pulled up and was beginning to wonder if it was a holiday or something when a girl finally came to the window to help me. She took forever, told me I had filled out my deposit slip wrong (which I hadn't) and went about doing I'm not sure what. I look up to see a few people were coming into the bank and she stops helping me and proceeds to help the other customers (never mind I had literally been there close to 10 minutes already just to have a deposit made!). I was so angry!!!! I couldn't believe it!!! I felt it was very blatant. I have never in my life been dropped mid-transaction. I guess you could say, to be fair to her, it's branch policy to help those inside first. AFTER she had helped all the other customers she finally sent the tube back to me with my receipt. Why didn't she just do that to begin with?
Was I being discriminated against? I have no idea, but I didn't like the way I was treated and because this happens all the time at the bank we're beginning to think it's not so coincidental. Any thoughts/ideas?
1 comment:
What a strange situation. I see what you mean, but how could you say for sure that it has to do with the color of your skin.
What if you talk to a branch manager sometime and describe your frustration with the service?
For what it's worth, we tried a national bank when we moved here and I was annoyed at every turn. I imagine it was the particular branch, not the whole bank system. We switched to a local credit union and all has been great.
Let us know what you decide to do. I'm very curious.
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