Investigating the Community Reinvestment Act By: Ishmael Buckner
This year, the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation proposed updating the rules implementing the Community Reinvestment Act, which would modernize the rule for how we bank now. I welcome some improvements to the CRA and I want people to remember why this law was put in place to begin with. In 1971, an U.S. Navy Master Chief Petty Officer and his educator bride stationed in Rota, Spain were making the move back to the states, touring homes in Pittsburg. Naturally, she was going to help pick out their future home, ideally one with fresh air and a nice yard for their children. The couple met the real estate agent and toured a split-level home in a previously green or blue lined neighborhood (i.e.: white.) What followed may seem like a scene from A Raisin in the Sun: A neighbor approached the real estate agent and attempted to persuade her to
reconsider selling to the negros. He explained that “they” (the neighbors he organized) would have the money together to put down on the house soon, but just needed a little more time. Luckily, this real estate agent wasn’t moved by his anti-Black elevator pitch. Unfortunately for far too many American Negros, plenty other real estate agents would participate in the widespread housing discrimination. The couple ended up purchasing the house, but their ordeal didn’t end after closing. Not long after moving in, their new home was shot in multiple times and assailants spray painted “Go Home Nigers” (yes, spelled incorrectly) on the driveway. Not one neighbor spoke to the lady of the house for 6 months. This is what was happening in the 70’s after the passage of the Fair Housing Act in 1968. This is what redlining did to my grandparents, and it is the context for the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA), a 1978 housing law that intended to compel the banking industry to genuinely
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