One could indeed make the case that minorities have distinctive reasons to call attention to the shortcomings of the financial services industry. The mortgage industry frequently targeted minority homebuyers with predatory loans, a 2010 study published in the American Sociological Review concluded.

In 2009, a former Wells Fargo employee-turned-whistleblower accused the bank of targeting minorities for subprime lending. “Wells Fargo mortgage had an emerging-markets unit that specifically targeted black churches, because it figured church leaders had a lot of influence and could convince congregants to take out subprime loans,” she told the New York Times.

Minorities also have been more deeply affected by cutbacks in banking services and branch closures. Research published by the FDIC at the end of 2009 found that minorities were less likely than whites to be customers of a bank and therefore needed to rely on “subprime” products like check-cashing storefronts or fee-laden prepaid debit cards as a result. The research found that 22 percent of black households and 19 percent of Latino households are “unbanked,” compared with 3 percent of white households.