How a Barber Stole the Blueprint from Millionaires

In 1898, the American financial system had a specific label for Black people: "Uninsurable." They said we died too young. They said we were too poor.

They wrote us out of the equation.But John Merrick, a barber in Durham, NC, had a different plan. While shaving the throats of the South's most powerful white titans, he wasn't just making small talk.

He was stealing their blueprint.