meet the financial needs of the communities it operates in.
the housing market forced many American Negroes into under-resourced, at times highly polluted, climate- vulnerable communities. Access to basic credit and bond markets remained segregated. The persistent problems were not just what the banks were actively doing to Black Americans trying to secure a home in the country our people’s torture built. The problem additionally includes extreme economic stigmatization painting an image of Black homeowners as nothing other than lower property values and higher interest rates on their mortgages. When it comes to the climate crisis, the ultimate legacy of the CRA has yet to be determined. However, the past 50 years do not exactly inspire hope. If American Negroes continue to be denied economic and political justice, I guarantee you the ways we are perpetually stigmatized and sacrificed will be weaponized against progress including addressing the climate crisis. Concentrations of bad planning, lacking adequate green spaces, increased temperatures, hazardous air quality, poisoned water, flood zones and inability to rebuild after a disaster or even own
Since passed in 1978, the CRA attempts to push banks to lend to Black communities by assessing the financial institution's record of meeting the credit needs of its entire community, including low- and moderate-income neighborhoods. The law does not force banks to lend; instead, banks are encouraged to lend, consistent with the safe and sound operation of such institutions. There are several reasons for the CRA’s less than stellar performance in meeting its goals. First the law should have been explicit in naming race and Black people’s prior categorization as “detrimental influences” and “undesirable elements” as the driving force for the harm, thus needing to be the centerpiece of the redress. Second, the law lacks the so-called ‘teeth’ to enforce compliance in a timely manner. The CRA’s mechanism of using a bad score on a CRA assessment to block a possible bank merger in the future simply was not effective enough, or used aggressively enough to match the financial, health, or social costs of this attack on the American Negro. The discrimination and exclusion endemic to
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