In the aftermath of George Floyd's murder many financial institutions and industry organizations made commitments to racial equity. Recently, some have seemed to wane in their commitments. It took us over 400 years to get into this mess. A two-year commitment to racial equity and justice is not going to cut it. I think Just Action can help us all think about and implement sustained action so we continue on the path of that moral arch of the Universe that bends toward justice. I can't wait to read the book!
Banking is opaque to most of us. Has the Community Reinvestment Act made a significant difference in lending practices? Does racial targeting of subprime mortgages occur mostly at the level of individual branch banks or at a higher level within the bank? My vague sense has been that local loan officers could be neutral in their loan practices but that the people in the headquarters who designed the loans and the qualifications for them built racism into the structure. But I don't know if that idea is supported by evidence or not. In general, I wonder if racism is now baked into the entire system rather than depending on individual attitudes. Do you deal with these sorts of questions in Just Action?
Yes, in our book, Just Action (https://www.justactionbook.org/) we do describe how banking policies that are not explicitly discriminatory have a racially disparate impact. And we also describe how the Community Reinvestment Act can be a tool for racial justice activists. We look forward to your reactions to those discussions.
I look forward to those detailed discussions. But I cannot help but feel a sense of sadness and foreboding that tangible action will always be limited by the inability of white liberals to come to terms with the constitutive nature of racism. We swim in it the way fish do in water. We cannot see it because it is not outside of us. It seems as if we have been retracing the same ground since Reconstruction. Another round of efforts to achieve progress through institutional change may help. I certainly don't want to disparage it. But there always seems to be an underlying issue that drags us back to where we started. I realize that discussing this enduring condition is not the purpose of this site, so I will cut this short. But the nagging sense that the task is Sisyphean and not some normal project of finite reform remains a distraction for me, perhaps for others. If the route to justice was along the superhighway of social progress, we would have solved decades ago problems related to the geography of inequality, with policies as straightforward as the moon landing. Overcoming racism in housing is like approaching the speed of light. The closer we come to the target, the "heavier" we become, and the more energy is required to continue to accelerate. But the constraint is invisible because we are doing battle with our own ambivalence.
As in The Color of Law, there is a chapter at the end of Just Action called "Frequently Asked Questions." One is along the lines of yours, and we respond there. This is not the place to repeat that extended response, but when you have read it, we will welcome your reaction.
I rent in the City of Falls Church, VA. One of the wealthiest jurisdictions in the US, carved out of the adjacent county to ensure that Blacks were excluded. I see some liberal neighbors with Black Lives Matter signs in their yards. Talk is cheap. As soon as a proposal comes forth to build affordable housing, those same folks fight it tooth and nail. I doubt they realize (at least I hope they don't realize) that by blocking affordable home construction, they are helping to further discrimination against Black lives.
Yes, that type of opposition is all too common in communities across the country. But I'd suggest that there are more supporters of affordable housing and of making exclusive communities more inclusive than we may know. They just haven't been as vocal or organized as those who are opposed. My column published on May 11 describes a group in an exclusive community in Silicon Valley that formed in support of inclusion, diversity, and affordability and how they have won some victories. I wrote about them to provide an example that it's possible, even when it seems it isn't, to find those who share in those values and to work to counter the formidable opposition.
Have you considered the work of Aaron Carr and the Housing Rights Initiative in holding real estate interests accountable for practice which tend to perpetuate segregated housing?
In the aftermath of George Floyd's murder many financial institutions and industry organizations made commitments to racial equity. Recently, some have seemed to wane in their commitments. It took us over 400 years to get into this mess. A two-year commitment to racial equity and justice is not going to cut it. I think Just Action can help us all think about and implement sustained action so we continue on the path of that moral arch of the Universe that bends toward justice. I can't wait to read the book!
Thank you for responding to the community's request for actionable strategies! Look forward to reading the book.
~Humera
Banking is opaque to most of us. Has the Community Reinvestment Act made a significant difference in lending practices? Does racial targeting of subprime mortgages occur mostly at the level of individual branch banks or at a higher level within the bank? My vague sense has been that local loan officers could be neutral in their loan practices but that the people in the headquarters who designed the loans and the qualifications for them built racism into the structure. But I don't know if that idea is supported by evidence or not. In general, I wonder if racism is now baked into the entire system rather than depending on individual attitudes. Do you deal with these sorts of questions in Just Action?
Yes, in our book, Just Action (https://www.justactionbook.org/) we do describe how banking policies that are not explicitly discriminatory have a racially disparate impact. And we also describe how the Community Reinvestment Act can be a tool for racial justice activists. We look forward to your reactions to those discussions.
I look forward to those detailed discussions. But I cannot help but feel a sense of sadness and foreboding that tangible action will always be limited by the inability of white liberals to come to terms with the constitutive nature of racism. We swim in it the way fish do in water. We cannot see it because it is not outside of us. It seems as if we have been retracing the same ground since Reconstruction. Another round of efforts to achieve progress through institutional change may help. I certainly don't want to disparage it. But there always seems to be an underlying issue that drags us back to where we started. I realize that discussing this enduring condition is not the purpose of this site, so I will cut this short. But the nagging sense that the task is Sisyphean and not some normal project of finite reform remains a distraction for me, perhaps for others. If the route to justice was along the superhighway of social progress, we would have solved decades ago problems related to the geography of inequality, with policies as straightforward as the moon landing. Overcoming racism in housing is like approaching the speed of light. The closer we come to the target, the "heavier" we become, and the more energy is required to continue to accelerate. But the constraint is invisible because we are doing battle with our own ambivalence.
As in The Color of Law, there is a chapter at the end of Just Action called "Frequently Asked Questions." One is along the lines of yours, and we respond there. This is not the place to repeat that extended response, but when you have read it, we will welcome your reaction.
I rent in the City of Falls Church, VA. One of the wealthiest jurisdictions in the US, carved out of the adjacent county to ensure that Blacks were excluded. I see some liberal neighbors with Black Lives Matter signs in their yards. Talk is cheap. As soon as a proposal comes forth to build affordable housing, those same folks fight it tooth and nail. I doubt they realize (at least I hope they don't realize) that by blocking affordable home construction, they are helping to further discrimination against Black lives.
Yes, that type of opposition is all too common in communities across the country. But I'd suggest that there are more supporters of affordable housing and of making exclusive communities more inclusive than we may know. They just haven't been as vocal or organized as those who are opposed. My column published on May 11 describes a group in an exclusive community in Silicon Valley that formed in support of inclusion, diversity, and affordability and how they have won some victories. I wrote about them to provide an example that it's possible, even when it seems it isn't, to find those who share in those values and to work to counter the formidable opposition.
Have you considered the work of Aaron Carr and the Housing Rights Initiative in holding real estate interests accountable for practice which tend to perpetuate segregated housing?