Maxwell Johnson, a Vancouver-based Indigenous man, attempted to open a bank account for his 12-year-old granddaughter in December 2019. He'd spent the previous five years at this bank. The cashier asked for identification and he provided his Federal Indian Status Card, a form of government-issued identification. The teller who was processing his request refused to recognize the document as identification and began interrogating him. What should have been a routine contact suddenly escalated, and she ended up phoning the cops—an overreaction that effectively branded Johnson as a criminal element when all he wanted to do was assist his granddaughter in opening a bank account.

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Interactions between Canadian police and Indigenous peoples are frequently tense, owing to settler Canadians' long-standing colonial attitude. Johnson and his sixth-grade granddaughter were both handcuffed. Because of the way anti-Indigenous racism is entrenched into Canadian life, the teller was correct in assuming that the police would share some of her biases. She also understood that her narrative would be believed over his. As word of the encounter spread on social media, many people chastised the bank for enabling the teller's implicit bias to put Johnson at risk.

The wider question is that the teller had been trained in not only customer service skills but unconscious bias well. 

About Jim Woods

Jim Woods is president of Woods Kovalova Group where he founded the firm in 1998. WKG is a global consulting firm that works with financial industry professionals to solve their most pressing problems and seize their most promising possibilities by breaking the cycle of racial inequality. Jim was recognized as one of the “Most Influential Blacks in Corporate America.”

Jim’s education and work experience have given him expertise in many aspects of the financial sector. He has 25 years of diversity, equity, and inclusion consulting experience, primarily in retail and business banking.

Jim holds deep expertise in organization and banking strategy development. Jim earned a master’s degree in organizational development and human resources from Capella University.

He is an author of several business books on diversity and inclusion along with three children’s books on belonging.