The American financial system has systemic racism built right into it. For generations, systems like red-lining and predatory lending practices have resulted in a wealth gap that sees communities of color without equal access to jobs, homes, healthcare, and education, and that chasm is only growing wider as a result of the two-plus year pandemic we’ve been living through.
In the latest Uproxx original video, Opportunity Gap, Steve Vasquez reports that four in ten black households lost their income or jobs in the last two years and lays out how the legacy of an unfair federal and state housing and lending policies contributed to the fact that the 400 richest American billionaires hold more wealth than all 10 million Black households in America combined.
That’s a disparity that needs to be addressed and while it’s going to take a lot of time and effort to reckon with America’s long legacy of systemic racism, one powerful way we can better balance the scales of an uneven financial system right now is by increasing financial access to underserved communities. Digital banking platform Varo Bank along with basketball icon Russell Westbrook are attempting to do just that with Russ x Varo Money Power.
Russ x Varo Money Power is a custom financial literacy program that is designed to educate its members on the historical barriers that have been built into the American financial system for decades while offering tools to help navigate budgets, careers, avoid money traps, and even start a business. Westbrook is no stranger to how much of a barrier to success money can be and has used his platform so far to bring the financial knowledge he wishes he had growing up to a younger generation of future moguls.
While the program is new, it’s already seen one class of graduates move on and is eager to teach the next class and offer the tools to counter the rippling effects of an unfair financial system.
To learn more about Varo Bank’s Russ x Varo Money Power program, be sure to watch the video above or visit Varo Money’s official website.