Here’s one for the “wtf?” files. Oakland’s Community Bank of the Bay has apologized to one of its Muslim customers for refusing to serve her until she took off her headscarf. According to the Trib, the bank has a “no hats” policy to discourage robbers who might want to disguise themselves, and that extended even to hijabs worn for religious reasons. The woman promptly emptied her account and called the Council on American-Islamic Relations, and the bank apologized and promised to apply its security policy with more discretion. Here’s the weird thing: the Community Bank of the Bay was explicitly set up to provide microlending to nonprofits and low-income customers who can’t get access to credit elsewhere. And yet they have a problem like this? Go figure.
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