Newspapers / Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.) / Oct. 24, 1991, edition 1 / Page 6
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Blacks rejected Continued from page A1 Other lawmakers appearing with Kennedy, all members of the House Banking Committee, were Democrats Esteban Torres of Cali fornia; Barney Frank and Richard Neal of Massachusetts and Floyd Flake of New /York, as well as Republican Thomas Ridge of Penn sylvania. ^ Their effort is being backed by groups such as the National Asso ciation for the Advancement of Colored People, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now and the National Council of La Kazar ? ? Monday's report by regulators, ordered by Congress, was the broadest look yet at lending pat terns in the nation, covering 6.4 million applications to 9,300 banks, savings institutions, credit unions and mortgage banking com panies* ~7 It also was the first time the government has specifically col lected information on lending by race, ethnic group and gender. Until adoption in 1989 of a section in the savings and loan bailout law, the government gath ered data on lending only by neigh borhood. Kennedy, who sponsored the requirement leading to Monday's report, said it "portrays an America where credit is a privilege of race and wealth, not a function of the ability to pay back a loan." Kennedy's home city of Boston had the highest rejection rate for blacks, 34.9 percent, among 19 large cities examined. Houston had the highest rejec tion rate for Hispanics, 25.7 per cent. . : ' The wide differences in loan , rejection rates by race and ethnic group occurred despite the 14-year old Community Reinvestment Act and the 15-year-old Home Mort flafl#' Dior Ink una Act The reinvestment law requires banks to prove they are serving businesses and consumers in low income neighborhoods. The disclosure act is designed to uncover any "redlining" ? refusing to lend to poor or minority areas - by financial institutions. Federal Reserve Governor John La Ware, a former banker, cau tioned reporters at a Monday news conference not to conclude from the study's figures that banks were discriminating against minorities. The rejection rates, although correlated by income, do not take into account such other factors as applicants' credit and employment histories and current debt loads, he said. Rep. Henry B.< Gonzalez, D Texas, chairman of the House Banking Committee, called on President Bush to hold a White House meeting of community groups, civil rights organizations and local government officials to devise a strategy for dealing with the issue. "It matters not whether the dis crimination is intentional. Discrim ination by ignorance is just as hurt ful and just as destructive as dis crimination by design," Gonzalez said in a letter to Bush. The industry's biggest trade group said it was appointing its own task force of bankers to come up with ways to increase lending to minorities. "We are very concerned about these statistics," said Rob Dugger, chief economist of the American Bankers Association. Bankers blame the government and other participants in the real estate industry at least in part for the figures. "Since 1981, government fund ing for low-income housing has been reduced for budgetary reasons over 75 percent That funding can not be replaced by the banking industry alone and it Cannot be replaced without reducing credit for other purposes," Dugger said. Little has changed Continued from page A5 tion in a way." But Bob Summerville, a social studies specialist in the state Department of Education, sees trouble ahead if future classrooms emphasize the experiences of one ethnic group over another. He said that even if schools have always taught history as* "white history," the wrong can't be ' corrected by teaching history as "black history." "It seems to be in the name of making people proud we seem to be tearing our society apart," Sum merville said. "It seems to me that we should look less at our differ ences and more at what holds us together if we're going to indoctti* nate people." Like Norell, Summerville sug gested the perceived lack of black history in Alabama classrooms is likely on$ symptom of a more seri ous illness in the education system "The discussion over the way we organize courses and teach them isn't the question of whether we're teaching black histoiy well but whether we're teaching history well," he said. Autrey said she agrees that some of the failings may be on the part of the system or rooted in other factors such as student apa thy. But nevertheless, she clearly remembers how her Alabama State students responded to novels and autobiographies from black authors, v ..~1 :_1, "They, wi^e enraptured by those books and they got so much from them," she said. "It gave them a better idea of who they were, and a new motivation and incentive for what they could become as individ uals and a people." % . Sallie Cook, a teacher at Holt High School in Tuscaloosa, said textbooks don't contain enough black history but supplemental material or lectures often are not welcome. & "If you do teach something about one group or one minority in the classroom, then you get people saying you're teaching black histo ry," said Cook, a former Alabama Education Association president. Autrey agreed. "We're still fighting the battle in evoyyun far as black history anff wiiatTT means," she said. Peace dividend Continued from page A5 what weapons systems are needed to fight in regional conflicts. While the allied victory was made possible in part through expensive weapons systems, we found that other big ticket items weren't necessary, including vast arsenals of strategic bombers and nuciearmtssiles. Another development bringing the peace dividend back to life is the President's unilateral declara tion of cutbacks in tactical nuclear weapons. That really writes an end to the Cold War. The Soviets and other countries are rushing to match our cuts, and the cutback fever is likely to spread to other weapons sys tems. Experts say we can drop some weapons systems now in an advanced stage of development without endangering national secu rity. For example, there are 15 active aircraft carriers, each with a total annual operating cost, includ ing personnel, of $600 million. With the Soviet threat gone, how many do we need? I don't know, but surely Aot the 15 we thought were necessary to wage a global war strategy against the Soviets. The B-2 Stealth bomber has been controversial since it first came off the drawing boards. H Is designed to carry nuclear bombs to targets in the Soviet^ Union. But without an enemy, how can we jus tify a price tag of aboit $865 mil lion per plane? \ Same with Star Wars ? the sci-fi fantasy that's already cost $20 billion and for which Qongress is considering outlays 0#, between $3.5 and 4.6 billion this ybar. There are other expensive weapons systems in the budget that can be slashed without compromis ing U.S. military security. - . A study by defense experts at the Brookings Institute says that defense spending could be cut by over a third over the next decade, amounting to between $316 billion and $619 billion depending on which options are chosen for vari ous spending decisions. That kind of money can make ~ a real difference. It could fund all or most of the Urban League's Mar shall Plan for America, which would develop our human resources and enable us to be more competitive. And even such a reduced Pen tagon budget would still leave the U.S. far and away the world's strongest military power ? easily able to defend itself and its inter ests around the world. 1 So the peace dividend lives. The real challenge is to chan nel it to productive way that benefit the total economy, and especially to programs that invest in our future. Providing preschool education, support services to help all children excel in academics, training people in tomorrow's skills, and enhancing peoples' productivity are such investments. THE WINSTON-SALEM OFFICE OF GOLDEN STATE MUTUAL LIFE SENDS IT S BEST WISHES TO THE WSSU RAMS GOI,I>I5N STATU MUTUAL I.IFK HOME OFFICE: ttff W AOAMS ttVD ? LOS ANGCLES. CALtFOftN! A 90011 * 1225 E. 5th St. ? 723-0546 WILLIAM FULTON, DISTRICT MANAGER PROVIDING FUNDS FOR LIFE'S MAJOR EVENTS: ? HEALTH ? EDUCATION ? RETIREMENT - FINAL EXPENSES sPlas Danc< sAower R?dio ': :: x : :-.;:':4^i >: ;^?x ' !k Luminous Alarm Clock -#11102 Pun Site Baby Ruth, Butterfinger, Raisinets, or Nestle's Crunch We Reserve the Right to Limit Quantities Visit On? of These Convenient Crown Drug Locations 1. 631 Peters Creek Parkway 8. Lewisviile, 6499 Shaliowford Rd. 2. Reynolda Manor Shopping Center ' 9. Stanleyville, Old Hwy. 52 North 3. 3075 Kernersville Road 10. King, Colony Centre 4. 301 Acadia Avenue 1 1 . Walkertown, Hwy 66 5. Hanes Mall 12. 4917 Country Club Rd. 6. Oldtown, 3716 Reynolda Road 13, Bermuda Quay 7. Clemmons. Westwood Village 14. New Market Plaza ? Kernersville <g^i?1^StffrsbiLiryt Yadkinvilie, Mocksville, Newton, TaylorsVtlle, & Lexington Visit s Crown Drug Optic Shop todsy, located in Crown Drug Stores st the following locations: ? Hanes Matt Winston- Salem, NC 768-9322 ? Davidson Plaza Lexington, NC 249-6732 ? Willow Oak Shopping Center Mocksville, NC 634-6216 DOWNTOWN 721-7400 VISIT US OR DIAL DIRECTLY THRUWAY REYNOLDA 721-7465 721-7478 Shop Sat. Thruway 9 to 6 ? Reynolda 10 to 6 ^Downtown 10 to 5 THIS SATURDAY ONLY! I BRING THIS AD I TO ANY DAVIS STORE AND RECEIVE ANY PURCHASE OF $40.00 OR MORE Regular or sale price Items. Valid 10/26/91 only.
Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.)
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Oct. 24, 1991, edition 1
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