We stand in solidarity with Black communities demanding an end to police violence

We stand in solidarity with Black communities demanding an end to police violence.

Police are much more likely to use deadly force in poorer, more highly segregated neighborhoods, which is why we need a more just economy to achieve positive, long-term systemic change.

A just economy is one in which Black and Brown workers are not sacrificed for the sake of profits.

A just economy is one in which Black communities’ tax dollars are funneled into fair, community-led public health systems and community-owned affordable housing—not into police departments that brutalize, and even murder, our neighbors.

A just economy is one that recognizes the way to build safe communities is to invest in Black communities, Indigenous communities, Brown communities, and all other communities that have experienced disinvestment under racist systems and policies.

We will continue to use our platform within the banking industry to uplift prison divestment and police divestment movements by amplifying “benefit to all, harm to none” principles. Nobody should profit from the punishment of anybody else.

Due to well-documented abusive practices, minimal evidence of rehabilitation, and the criminal justice system’s failure to adequately address racial discrimination, Beneficial State Bank does not provide loans, products, or services to any entity involved in the prison industry. But we need all banks to do the same.

We are proud to support grassroots efforts to move money out of prisons and will continue to demand that institutions use their position to invest in Black communities, Brown communities, Indigenous communities, and all communities of color that are simply defending their right to live. Only with equitable investments and community oversight of those investments can we build a society that is truly safer for all of us.

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The rate at which Black Americans are killed by police is more than twice as high as the rate for white Americans. The graphic above consists of a non-comprehensive list of deaths at the hands of police in the U.S. since Eric Garner’s death in July, 2014. Data source: NPR

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