# It's sad to see racial prejudice alive and well in business and banking **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 7, 2011, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-sad-to-see-racial-prejudice-alive-and-well-in-business-and-banking/588207 "2011-07-07T17:32:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2011, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-sad-to-see-racial-prejudice-alive-and-well-in-business-and-banking/588207/1 "2011-07-07T17:32:24Z")
I grew up just as the Civil Rights movement ended. I was only a few years old when lunatics murdered Dr. King and Bobby Kennedy. People celebrating the death of the Nigger lover Kennedy and then cheering when Dr. King was shoot by a filthy coward. I’ve heard the N word my entire life. I hope this bank gets sued for every dollar they have. I’m stunned beyond words that in 2011 something like this was done to a customer, with an account, at that bank. It’s right out of the Jim Crow days. I can easily remember what happens to blacks driving a nice car, or trying to cash checks. The assumption that it’s stolen. A black guy couldn’t possibly have anything of value. I thought we’d gotten beyond this. We supposed to be better than we were in 1969. Not worse. This shames us all. White, black yellow it doesn’t make any difference. We all bleed red. > [@](#): > > But when Njoku showed up at the Chase branch near his house intending to cash the check, he was in for a nasty surprise. > > The check had Njoku’s name and address on it and was issued by JP Morgan Chase. But the Chase Customer Banker who handles large checks at the Auburn branch was immediately suspicious. > > “I was embarrassed,” Njoku said. “She asked me what I did for a living. Asked me where I got the check from, looked me up and down—like ‘you just bought a house in Auburn, really?’ She didn’t believe that,” he said. > \ > “They just threw me in jail; they called the police and said this guy has a fraudulent check,” Njoku said. > > Auburn police arrested him for forgery - a felony crime. > > “I was like - you’re making a mistake, you’re making a mistake, don’t take me to jail, I got work tomorrow. I can’t afford to miss work,” he said. > > Njoku was taken to jail on June 24, 2010, which was a Thursday. The next day, Chase Special Investigations, realized it was a mistake. The check was legitimate. The Investigator called Auburn Police and left a message with the detective handling the case, but it was her day off. So Njoku stayed in jail for the entire weekend. Finally, on Monday, he was released. [http://www.king5.com/news/125105599.html](http://www.king5.com/news/125105599.html) ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2011, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-sad-to-see-racial-prejudice-alive-and-well-in-business-and-banking/588207/2 "2011-07-07T17:41:31Z")
I share your anger but things have got better. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2011, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-sad-to-see-racial-prejudice-alive-and-well-in-business-and-banking/588207/3 "2011-07-07T17:44:04Z")
I don’t understand how this even started. Since Chase issued the cheque, couldn’t they check their own records to see if it was valid? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2011, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-sad-to-see-racial-prejudice-alive-and-well-in-business-and-banking/588207/4 "2011-07-07T17:48:52Z")
Moving thread from IMHO to MPSIMS. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2011, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-sad-to-see-racial-prejudice-alive-and-well-in-business-and-banking/588207/5 "2011-07-07T17:50:27Z")
He not only got sent to jail for the weekend, he lost his job and his car was towed from the bank parking lot and sold at auction. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2011, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-sad-to-see-racial-prejudice-alive-and-well-in-business-and-banking/588207/6 "2011-07-07T17:51:55Z")
Yeah, they owe him a LOT more than an apology. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2011, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-sad-to-see-racial-prejudice-alive-and-well-in-business-and-banking/588207/7 "2011-07-07T17:56:01Z")
> [@Giles](#): > > I don’t understand how this even started. Since Chase issued the cheque, couldn’t they check their own records to see if it was valid? This. > [@King5.com](#): > > The Customer Banker said the check looked fake… Given that it was in fact a genuine Chase-issued check, I wonder what about it, specifically, looked fake??? ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2011, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-sad-to-see-racial-prejudice-alive-and-well-in-business-and-banking/588207/8 "2011-07-07T17:58:43Z")
Not for nothing, but Chase doesn’t like cashing large checks for _anybody_, regardless of who they are. My company purchased some goods from a supplier (a private person, not a business), for an amount north of $10,000. For reasons I’m not really clear on, the supplier wanted to cash the check (no, I don’t get it either). The check was drawn on a Chase Bank account. The customer had an account at Chase Bank. Chase Bank basically told him to go fuck himself. When the customer called our Accounts Payable department asking for another payment option, he was told, once again, to go fuck himself (but that’s another thread entirely). ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2011, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-sad-to-see-racial-prejudice-alive-and-well-in-business-and-banking/588207/9 "2011-07-07T18:24:38Z")
Questioning the check is bad enough. I understand it’s a lot of money, maybe the bank did need to double-check if it really looked fake. There was no need to arrest the poor guy. Tell him they are verifying the check and come back Friday after it’s been looked at. They could always notify the cops later if the check was fake. Let the cops track him down. Aressting a customer in the bank lobby is beyond extreme. Especially without confirmation that the check was bad. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2011, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-sad-to-see-racial-prejudice-alive-and-well-in-business-and-banking/588207/10 "2011-07-07T18:48:13Z")
Disgusting. ---
**Author:** ![ducati](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/cc9497/32.png) [@ducati](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ducati)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2011, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-sad-to-see-racial-prejudice-alive-and-well-in-business-and-banking/588207/11 "2011-07-07T18:59:17Z")
I’m pretty sure there’s some information lacking in this story. Presumably, this man was arrested at the request of the bank. If the bank had suspicions, and couldn’t verify funds, this is common as I understand it. Also, I think everyone is ingoring the fact that when he couldn’t get proper service, he left. I believe this was/could be misconstrued as “running” if you will. Real criminals won’t stick around for the cops if they suspect they’re being stalled. As it all turns out, the bank obviously screwed up, but I don’t know why the knee-jerk reaction is always “racism!” I don’t know why the bank didn’t get the tow company to return his car, but I can’t see any car getting auctioned after only 2 weeks. I’m not saying the bank isn’t a huge dick. I just think there’s more to the story that got this guy locked up. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2011, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-sad-to-see-racial-prejudice-alive-and-well-in-business-and-banking/588207/12 "2011-07-07T19:02:14Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Aressting a customer in the bank lobby is beyond extreme. Especially without confirmation that the check was bad. When I was a bank teller we did that all the time. We tried to make damn sure the person was guilty though. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2011, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-sad-to-see-racial-prejudice-alive-and-well-in-business-and-banking/588207/13 "2011-07-07T19:36:02Z")
I smell lawsuit… ---
**Author:** ![Drain\_Bead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47774/32.png) [@Drain\_Bead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drain_Bead)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2011, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-sad-to-see-racial-prejudice-alive-and-well-in-business-and-banking/588207/14 "2011-07-07T19:46:33Z")
> [@ducati](#): > > I’m pretty sure there’s some information lacking in this story. > Presumably, this man was arrested at the request of the bank. If the bank had suspicions, and couldn’t verify funds, this is common as I understand it. > > Also, I think everyone is ingoring the fact that when he couldn’t get proper service, he left. > I believe this was/could be misconstrued as “running” if you will. Real criminals won’t stick around for the cops if they suspect they’re being stalled. > > As it all turns out, the bank obviously screwed up, but I don’t know why the knee-jerk reaction is always “racism!” > > I don’t know why the bank didn’t get the tow company to return his car, but I can’t see any car getting auctioned after only 2 weeks. > > I’m not saying the bank isn’t a huge dick. I just think there’s more to the story that got this guy locked up. When he left, he left the check AND his two forms of ID there! ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2011, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-sad-to-see-racial-prejudice-alive-and-well-in-business-and-banking/588207/15 "2011-07-07T19:49:00Z")
> [@ducati](#): > > Also, I think everyone is ingoring the fact that when he couldn’t get proper service, he left. > I believe this was/could be misconstrued as “running” if you will. Real criminals won’t stick around for the cops if they suspect they’re being stalled. Real criminals, after running, don’t _come back the next day_ to collect their money either. Which is what Njoku did according to the linked article. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2011, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-sad-to-see-racial-prejudice-alive-and-well-in-business-and-banking/588207/16 "2011-07-07T19:54:07Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > I smell lawsuit… But if he wins, how is he going to cash the check? ---
**Author:** ![Death\_of\_Rats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a6a055/32.png) [@Death\_of\_Rats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Death_of_Rats)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2011, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-sad-to-see-racial-prejudice-alive-and-well-in-business-and-banking/588207/17 "2011-07-07T19:54:49Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > I smell lawsuit… The downside being, if he wins, Chase will try to pay him by check. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Alice\_The\_Goon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Alice\_The\_Goon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alice_The_Goon)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2011, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-sad-to-see-racial-prejudice-alive-and-well-in-business-and-banking/588207/18 "2011-07-07T20:05:30Z")
> [@Shakes](#): > > I share your anger but things have got better. Sometimes I wonder if they really have, though. Like today, when I was advised by my coworker that my job is dangerous, because I could get robbed by black guys. I did remind him that I could also get robbed by white guys, Asian guys, Hispanic guys, or even women for that matter… ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2011, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-sad-to-see-racial-prejudice-alive-and-well-in-business-and-banking/588207/19 "2011-07-07T20:08:29Z")
> [@ducati](#): > > If the bank had suspicions, and couldn’t verify funds, this is common as I understand it. But they could verify the funds, as the check was real. I don’t understand why his car got towed, though. I understand that he left when they wouldn’t cash his check, then returned the next day. Did he leave his car in the parking lot overnight? ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2011, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-sad-to-see-racial-prejudice-alive-and-well-in-business-and-banking/588207/20 "2011-07-07T20:10:49Z")
This makes me glad we refinanced and our mortgage isn’t with Chase Bank any more. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-sad-to-see-racial-prejudice-alive-and-well-in-business-and-banking/588207.md?page=2)