Teh One Who Knocks
08-02-2021, 12:13 PM
By Katherine Huggins - Mediaite
https://i.imgur.com/tUo9ZRIl.jpg
MSNBC’s Rev. Al Sharpton joined Rep. Donald Payne Jr. (D-NJ) on Sunday to criticize cashless venues, arguing that it is “discriminating against an array of marginalized groups.”
“Whether it is for sanitary reasons or tech-savvy ones, the physical elimination of legal currency for consumer transactions is discriminating against an array of marginalized groups,” Sharpton said before welcoming Payne, who has introduced legislation to block stores from banning cash transactions.
The pair argued that one of the main issues with cashless venues is that approximately 55 million Americans are either unbanked or underbanked. Sharpton specifically referenced a 2019 survey that found that the unbanked or underbanked households were “lower income, less educated households of color, specifically Black and Hispanic.”
“So if a business goes cashless, it alienates not just the unbanked, but the communities of color, too,” Sharpton said.
Payne said there are number of reasons why someone might not have a bank account, including lack of income, access, or distrust in financial institutions, but underscored that “Americans should have the freedom to pay in the way that is most convenient to them.”
“This is America — the land of choice, the land of freedom — and you should be able to pay in the manner in which is most comfortable to you,” Payne said. “You know, minorities, and elderly, and the disabled are far more likely to be unbanked and underbanked. Being underbanked or unbanked affects 25% of African-Americans and Latinos, and close to one out of every five disabled Americans is impacted by that, and one out of ten elderly are impacted. So stores who reject cash are rejecting these Americans as customers as well.”
Asked by Sharpton if he had anything to say to businesses that went cashless during the Covid-19 pandemic, Payne said rejecting cash is “un-American.”
“I think they need to ask themselves whether they really want to deny goods and services to minority, elderly, and disabled customers,” he said. “This bill is about making sure all Americans have access to products and services offered in our country. To not accept a dollar bill — legal tender — seems un-American to me.”
https://i.imgur.com/tUo9ZRIl.jpg
MSNBC’s Rev. Al Sharpton joined Rep. Donald Payne Jr. (D-NJ) on Sunday to criticize cashless venues, arguing that it is “discriminating against an array of marginalized groups.”
“Whether it is for sanitary reasons or tech-savvy ones, the physical elimination of legal currency for consumer transactions is discriminating against an array of marginalized groups,” Sharpton said before welcoming Payne, who has introduced legislation to block stores from banning cash transactions.
The pair argued that one of the main issues with cashless venues is that approximately 55 million Americans are either unbanked or underbanked. Sharpton specifically referenced a 2019 survey that found that the unbanked or underbanked households were “lower income, less educated households of color, specifically Black and Hispanic.”
“So if a business goes cashless, it alienates not just the unbanked, but the communities of color, too,” Sharpton said.
Payne said there are number of reasons why someone might not have a bank account, including lack of income, access, or distrust in financial institutions, but underscored that “Americans should have the freedom to pay in the way that is most convenient to them.”
“This is America — the land of choice, the land of freedom — and you should be able to pay in the manner in which is most comfortable to you,” Payne said. “You know, minorities, and elderly, and the disabled are far more likely to be unbanked and underbanked. Being underbanked or unbanked affects 25% of African-Americans and Latinos, and close to one out of every five disabled Americans is impacted by that, and one out of ten elderly are impacted. So stores who reject cash are rejecting these Americans as customers as well.”
Asked by Sharpton if he had anything to say to businesses that went cashless during the Covid-19 pandemic, Payne said rejecting cash is “un-American.”
“I think they need to ask themselves whether they really want to deny goods and services to minority, elderly, and disabled customers,” he said. “This bill is about making sure all Americans have access to products and services offered in our country. To not accept a dollar bill — legal tender — seems un-American to me.”