Citigroup CFO Mark Mason (Photo: Howard University)

As protests over the killing of an unarmed black man byMinneapolis police spread across the U.S., Mark Mason, one of WallStreet's most senior black executives, debated whether to weighin.

People around him kept asking what he thought.

On a conference call last week to honor a group of juniorexecutives inside Citigroup Inc., an employee asked Mason, thebank's chief financial officer, whether it planned to enter thepolitical fray as it had on issues including gun control andprotests by white supremacists.

Mason's wife and children encouraged him to speak up aswell.

"It became obvious through the week that people needed to hearfrom the company," Mason said in an interview Monday evening. "Iwanted to speak out in a way that highlighted the atrocities ofthis incident, that explained what black Americans are feeling andthat gave some way for people to help."

The blog post he endedup publishing on Citigroup's website late Friday began by repeatingsome of George Floyd's last words, "I can't breathe," 10 times. Ithas since drawn hundreds of public comments from bankemployees.

"The response has been overwhelming," Mason said.

The death of Floyd in Minneapolis and other fatal policeencounters now fueling protests nationwide have prompted executivesfrom almost every major bank and investment firm to speak out.

And behind the scenes, it's driving conversations in an industrythat wants to be viewed as more socially responsible, even as itstruggles to deliver on promises to improve diversity within itsranks.

Executives of color are using the moment and their platform tospeak out.

"It's 2020 and enough is enough. We can no longer be silent,"Thasunda Brown Duckett, chief executive officer of consumer bankingat JPMorgan Chase & Co., said in a post on LinkedIn.

Like Mason, she's a rare black American in the top tiers of theU.S. finance industry. "Yes it's painful and my tears are real,"she said.

'Pain still lingers'

For billionaire Robert Smith, founder of Vista Equity Partners,Floyd's killing and other recent events — such as the shootingdeath of Ahmaud Arbery in south Georgia while he was out for a run— forced him to recall learning his uncle was shot dead by a whitegas-station attendant after having just received his master'sdegree and taking on a new job with the state of Colorado.

"This was almost 50 years ago, and the pain still lingers,"Smith said in a memo to employees. "When I see the face of GeorgeFloyd, Ahmaud Arbery or Christian Cooper, I see myself as a youngman; I see the faces of my children; and I am reminded of the manytimes in my life when I have been judged not by my character, butby my skin color."

Cynthia Adams, a top lawyer at Jefferies Financial Group Inc.,expressed her dismay in a letter to colleagues. Coworkers told herit helped open the door for conversations in the workplace aboutrace and politics.

"I continue to feel the pain," she said in a phone interviewMonday. "My main reaction is ongoing grief."

At many of the biggest U.S. banks, the percentage of blackworkers and executives has been slipping or stagnant.African-Americans accounted for 13% of JPMorgan's U.S. employeeslast year, down from almost 19% before the 2008 financialcrisis.

At Goldman Sachs Group Inc., African-Americans accounted for2.7% of the top ranks last year, little changed from 2013, whileblack representation among the bank's total U.S. workforce grew to6.6% from 4.8%.

Central Park incident

The Floyd incident came the same day as another racial flashpoint that shook Wall Street. Amy Cooper, a white employee atFranklin Templeton, was captured on video calling the police andsaying, "There is an African-American man, I am in Central Park, heis recording me, and threatening myself and my dog."

Christian Cooper, a black man, had asked her to put a leash onher cocker spaniel in an area where dogs aren't allowed to runfree.

Within 24 hours, Franklin Templeton fired AmyCooper.

Looting and arrests continued Monday night,including in midtown Manhattan and Washington. New York Mayor Billde Blasio extended a citywide curfew and the police department sent8,000 officers into the streets, doubling its presence.

"Recent events have been absolutely disheartening and gutwrenching," Ashok Varadhan, the only non-white leader of a majorbusiness line at Goldman Sachs, said in an interview. "Whatever weare all doing is not enough," he said. "We are failingmiserably."

More views from leaders

American Express Co. Chief Executive Officer Steve Squeri saidin a LinkedInpost that he'd heard from African-American employeesthat they don't feel safe and sought to assure workers that racismwon't be tolerated at the company.

"To me, this is horrific, inexcusable and maddening, but I alsofeel terrified at times because I feel it could happen to me, myson, my friends, and my relatives who must live in a world that hasbecome so unpredictable," Anre Williams, president of globalmerchant and network services at American Express, told someemployees in a video message last week.

In some cities, protests have included looting, arson and otherproperty damage. Images on social media show people breaking intoand vandalizing JPMorgan, Wells Fargo & Co. and Capital OneFinancial Corp. branches.

Still, members of the financial industry said they don't wantsuch incidents to distract from the need to hold policeaccountable.

"They were all black Americans victimized because of theirrace," Ken Chenault, chairman of General Catalyst, and otherexecutives from the venture capital firm said in a blog post."Accountability for their deaths only began after outragedAmericans spoke out and took action."

Other top finance executives began weighing in late last week.Bank of America Corp. CEO Brian Moynihan asked employees to praywith him over the recent killings.

Wells Fargo's Charlie Scharf acknowledged that, as a white man,he can't really understand what people of color are feeling rightnow but pledged to listen. U.S. Bancorp's Andy Cecere said he'sfelt shock and anger in recent days.

Some of the comments from bank executives were met with contemptonline, where activists questioned whether the lenders would alterpractices to help minorities.

And while some workers and customers flooded social media withthanks for the comments made by top bank executives, they alsounderscored how much more needs to be done.

"I, too, was deeply affected by that video. It made me fear formy black son, my black brothers and the black fathers," RacquelPorteous, a Citigroup employee, commented in response to Mason'sblog. "Often you ask the question, will we ever be free?"

READ MORE:

• ACA cut racial disparity in health carecoverage–for a while
• These companies lead the pack in diversity andinclusion
• The other America: Income inequalities createstarkly different realities