TD Bank received backlash from residents and public officials over an advertisement that some thought took advantage of racist stereotypes about the Boston neighborhood Dorchester.
The ad, which was displayed in a Back Bay branch of TD Bank, was spotted by Twitter user Reilly Hay last Wednesday and reads, “When you’re Downtown, but your debit card’s somewhere in Dorchester. We replace lost debit cards on the spot.”
Hay wrote in a following tweet that “lost in Dorchester” is Bostonian slang for “stolen,” which advances harmful stereotypes about Dorchester’s population.
“By causing folks to follow [the stereotype], they reinforce it,” Hay tweeted. “Now, why would a bank want people to reinforce the idea that black+brown+poor equals thief? Maybe it has something to do with the fact that the biggest thieves are often white and rich.”
TD Bank apologized for the ad in a statement and removed the sign on Thursday.
“We are sorry that an ad that appeared in one of our stores was insensitive to the Dorchester community,” TD Bank said in the statement. “The ad, which was removed [Thursday], does not reflect our core values around diversity and inclusion.”
Boston Mayor Martin Walsh said in an audio statement to The Daily Free Press he thought the ad was “insulting.”
“It appears to be really insulting, and I have a problem with that,” Walsh said. “I am a Dorchester resident, I grew up and lived there. There are many people from Dorchester. I’m not sure what the mindset behind that is, but TD Bank has some questions they need to answer to me and to the City of Boston.”
Walsh said he did not find the advertisement funny but instead disrespectful.
“A third of the city are Dorchester residents, they just insulted a third of the city,” Walsh said. “There’s nothing funny to that, and there’s nothing that I take any humor in that at all, and I think it’s disrespectful to Dorchester and Boston, quite honestly, and all the people there.”
Boston City Council President Andrea Campbell said in an emailed statement the ad showed that TD Bank should re-examine the diversity of their leadership.
“I’m glad TD Bank responded swiftly to remove this offensive ad, which plays into negative stereotypes about Dorchester,” Campbell said in the statement. “This is sadly not the first time we’ve seen ads like this appear in Boston, and it makes me wonder how diverse their leadership is and what they’re going to do to change that?”
Campbell said this incident highlighted the need for better training on the sensitive issue of racism and its associated stereotypes.
“This is why I think racial equity training is so important, especially for public servants, but also for corporations,” Campbell said, “so that we deepen our understanding of the history of racism and how it is perpetuated, address unconscious biases, and learn how to use an equity lens in our work.”
City Council accepted $75,000 in funding last Wednesday for professional development from two foundations, according to a spokesperson for Campbell, which Campbell chose to use for racial equity training for all councilors and their staff.
“Excited to bring the Council through this kind of training, and will continue to push other leaders in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors to do so as well,” Campbell said.
Brighton resident Ben Greenman, 28, said he did not agree with claims the ad was advancing racial stereotypes.
“I don’t think the ad is racist, it looks fine to me,” Greenman said. “I don’t need other people’s opinions to tell me how to read the ad. I don’t see any evidence that there is a racism problem in both Boston and its corporations.”
Roxbury resident Frenell Jean-Georges, 34, said while he could not say if the ad was racially insensitive, he did think it played off of socioeconomic stereotypes associated with Dorchester.
“It doesn’t really mention race, but definitely there is a socioeconomic connotation there,” Jean-Georges said. “… I can’t necessarily say it’s based off race because there’s not enough context. Dorchester is mostly people of color, there are all types of people who live in Dorchester — black, Asian, white. But definitely you get more of a working-class socioeconomic vibe.”
