From WHITE to BLACK by Iris Duplantier Rideau

Author:Iris Duplantier Rideau [Rideau, Iris Duplantier]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781734990232
Publisher: 8790 Pictures, Inc.
Published: 2022-05-15T07:00:00+00:00

PART THREE

Roots and Wings

In 1966, I attended UCLA and took classes in “Personal Lines” insurance. The classes were intellectually stimulating and much more interesting to me than decorating the properties our real estate business owned. I loved reading legal insurance documents, especially the fine print that contained all the various policy exclusions (and there were many of them.) Insurance companies “giveth and then taketh away.” Soon after the riots, Jimmy told me they were having a hard time securing insurance for our properties and asked if I wanted to open an insurance division in Rideau & Schy. I agreed, but only if it were my own business—I did not want to be a part of Rideau & Schy. After all, the men did not want their wives involved in the business and I didn’t want them in mine, so I decided to go it alone.

The most challenging part of starting an insurance agency was getting major insurance companies to appoint a new agent—a nearly impossible task, especially coming on the heels of the Watts Riots. I’ll never forget the first day Jimmy and I met with one of the vice presidents of the Hartford Insurance Company. I produced photographs and maps of our properties, showing him the distance between our properties and those areas affected by the riots. I also pointed out that the residential areas weren’t looted or burned and were not high risk that “Redlining” had made them out to be. Only the commercial areas were at high risk. When the Hartford Insurance Company realized thousands of homes in these areas needed better coverage with more equitable and competitive premiums, they agreed to appoint my company as their representative. I was now the first Black person, man or woman, to be appointed to a major casualty insurance company on the West Coast.

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