Doubling Down on Racial Capitalism during COVID-19: Qualitative Interviews with Bank Employees

Abstract

The COVID-19 Pandemic Recession has revealed examples of systematic discrimination within a wide range of industries, including banking. Using data from interviews conducted with bank employees in March and April 2020, we explore how private banks exemplify racialized organizations and operate within the broader economic system of racial capitalism that prioritizes pursuit of profits over the interests of their customers. We explain how the banking industry’s responses to the pandemic reflect the logic of racial capitalism, and we develop the theme of doubling down to illustrate this logic and to explain the patterns revealed in employees’ narratives. Subthemes included pursuit of profits, bureaucratic mundane, forced choices, history limits imagination, and dissonance. We conclude with implications for the banking industry.