The Chronicle
November 8, 2018 A9
FORUM
Community Reinvestment
Act at risk after 41 Years
Charlene
Crowell
Guest
Columnist
One of the most reli
able measures of a commu
nity’s economic vitality is
convenient access to full-
service banking.
Regardless of whether a
community is urban, sub
urban or rural, both con
sumers and local business
es rely on brick and mortar
bank branches for a wide
array of products and serv
ices.
New research that
measures how well banks
serve communities found
that America’s access to
banking expanded from
2015 to 2017 - except
when it comes to more
than 53 million Black and
Latino consumers or others
with low incomes or less
education.
In summarizing its new
survey findings on banking
activity during the past 12
months, the Federal
Deposit Insurance
Corporation (FDIC) noted
that 1 in 5 U.S. households
— 22.7 million — did not
use mainstream credit and
that “Black and Hispanic
households at every
income level evaluated in
the survey were more like
ly to be in this condition
than white households.”
“The good news is that
our nation’s banking sys ¬
tem is serving more
Americans than ever
before,” said FDIC
Chairman Jelena
McWilliams. “The bad
news is that even as the
overall number of people
who are unbanked has
declined, 8.4 million
households continue to
lack a banking relation
ship.”
McWilliams’ statement
did not directly address
how FDIC found that
another 48.9 million adults
are underbanked. The dif
ference is important.
Underbanked con
sumers are those who have
a bank account but also
turn to alternative fringe
financial services like pay-
day and auto loans or
check cashing services. By
comparison, unbanked
consumers are those who
have no relationship with
mainstream banking at all.
Even more importantly,
FDIC’s new survey proves
how the nation has a nag
ging, two-tiered system
when it comes to financial
services: one that serves
white consumers at a
growing rate; but leaves
behind consumers of color,
regardless of income.
Despite this deplorable
data, another federal finan
cial agency, the Office of
the Comptroller of the
Currency (OCC), awards
banks and other depository
institutions a 93 percent
satisfactory or higher rat
ing when it comes to the
Community Reinvestment
Act (CRA). Although OCC
supervises about 20 per
cent of the nation’s banks,
these institutions comprise
approximately 70 percent
of total bank assets.
This year CRA turned
41 years old, having been
enacted in October 1977
by President Jimmy Carter.
The law was meant to end
historical redlining prac
tices that for succeeding
generations denied credit
to Black America and/or
low-income communities.
With a new federal assur
ance, CRA was to hold
banks, credit unions and
other depository institu
tions accountable for local
credit lockouts and other
discriminatory practices.
Here’s a question to
ponder: How can two fed
eral financial regulators
reach such different find
ing's on the state of access
to banking and credit for
Black America?
It’s a question that
deserves an answer. And
fortunately, advocates at
both the state and national
levels are speaking up.
Nov. 15 is the deadline for
public comment to OCC
on how CRA’s regulatory
framework should be
reformed.
Of key concern to OCC
is a proposal named “one
ratio” that would reduce
the current CRA evaluation
into a mathematical formu
la. Consumer advocates
representing different areas
of the country view this
proposal as a way to water
down current procedures
that consider key criteria
such as geographic avail-
ability, borrower profiles,
different classifications of
lending like mortgages,
small businesses and more.
Cathy Hinko, executive
director of Louisville’s
Metropolitan Housing
Coalition, filed comments
with OCC, citing how
Black neighborhoods are
already underserved.
“To ease bank anxiety
about unclear aspects of
CRA, communications
among the federal agen
cies, banks, and communi
ty groups could be
improved,” wrote Hinko.
“However, easing bank
anxiety via the one ratio
and diminishing the impor
tance of branches, assess
ment areas, and public
input will decrease lending
and access to banking in
the communities that need
it the most.”
“The OCC asks
whether CRA considera
tion should be broadened
for additional activities and
populations. Industry trade
associations have been
advocating for CRA con
sideration for projects that
have broad benefits such as
financing hospitals that are
not necessarily located in
low- and moderate-income
neighborhoods,” said the
Buffalo-based Belmont
Housing Resources for
Western New York.
“However, the OCC must
be reminded that the origi
nal purpose of CRA was to
combat redlining in low-
and moderate-income
neighborhoods.”
In Dallas, Diane
Ragsdale, founder of the
South Dallas Fair Park
Inner City Community
Development Corp.
(ICDC) and a former
Dallas Deputy Mayor Pro
Tempore, also commented
to OCC, “CRA ratings
must be reformed so the
pass rate is no longer 93
percent ... Lending and
access to banking for peo
ple and communities of
color must be considered
on CRA exams. Mortgage
company affiliates of
banks must be included on
CRA exams.”
“No bank that engages
in illegal discrimination
and/or harmful consumer
activities should receive a
positive CRA rating,”
noted William R. Tisdale,
president and CEO of the
Milwaukee Fair Housing
Council. “We must not
slow the progress that has
been made. We need to
enhance CRA, not weaken
it!”
Charlene Crowell is the
Communications Deputy
Director with the Center
for Responsible Lending.
She can be reached
at Charlene .crowell©resp
onsiblelending.org.
We the people must be ambassadors
for hope and stamp out hate
James B.
Ewers Jr.
Guest
Columnist
America is the melting
pot of the world. It has
diversity at its core and all
people are welcomed here.
Years ago, my hometown of
Winston-Salem, N.C. was a
welcoming place for my
father, who was Jamaican.
In fact, for a long time my
dad was the only Jamaican
in the city.
He decided upon this city because one of his fellow
dental friends,Dr. J.C. Morgan, had settled in High Point,
a city only minutes from Winston-Salem. The rest is his
tory, as he began his practice and gained the respect of
people in the city.
There are many people in my hometown and other
cities across America that have similar stories. Their
migration started with a friend or relative and it grew
from there. I have always spoken fondly about Winston-
Salem and growing up there. While it wasn’t a perfect
place, its citizens had respect for one another. Yes, we had
major differences, but those differences didn’t turn into
major violence. Thankfully, our communities in East
Winston didn’t experience shootings and killings.
We lived in times when guns weren’t your calling
cards. We did a lot of talking and little fighting. Back in
the day, we sold a lot of “wolf tickets.” You must be in a
certain age category to know what a wolf ticket is. Plainly
stated, a wolf ticket is an exaggeration of a half-truth. It
could also be a total fabrication being told in a convinc
ing manner. Still, with these tickets flying around, we
didn’t use hateful speech toward each other. We cared
about each other and were respectful.
What has happened to us? Where has the civility
gone? Has it taken a nap or is it in a permanent slumber?
We have lowered the bar on humanity as feelings are hurt
and attitudes are negative. America stands at the corner of
disrespect and disillusionment. Caring is not trending
much these days and we are on a roller coaster of despair.
Are there some responsible parties for this vile behav
ior? Yes. We are. There are people that spew out venom
and un-truths every day. We have gotten accustomed to it
and that is the sad part. We have made hate and violence
a part of today’s landscape. We can blame our leaders, but
we have allowed this to happen. We don’t say enough and
do enough to confront this evil.
Just last week, our nation hit rock bottom again as 11
people were killed at Tree of Life Synagogue in
Pittsburgh. It has become painfully clear that places of
worship have become battlefields. They are no longer the
sacred institutions they once were, at least not in the eyes
of the people who commit these heinous acts.
Robert Bowers, the shooter, has been indicted on 44
counts, including federal hate crimes. Bowers, from
Baldwin, Pa., was armed with handguns and a Colt AR-
15 rifle. This investigation will continue as the FBI is
searching for a motive.
The motive is he hated a segment of our community.
Bowers will pay for this crime, yet America is in turmoil.
Teaching kindness and civility must continue to be our
guiding principles. We can never let a few unbalanced
people create a culture of hate.
This is our America, not their America. Pray America.
Pray.
James B. Ewers Jr. EdD. is a former tennis champi
on at Atkins High School in Winston-Salem and played
college tennis at Johnson C. Smith University, where he
was all-conference for four years. He is a retired college
administrator. He can be reached at
ewers .jr56@yahoo.com.
How can we make WS/FCS a grade A School Choice District?
•
I Malishai
I Woodbury
Guest
Columnist
School choice empow
ers parents to decide which
school best meets their
child’s needs. This move
ment is transforming K-12
education across the
nation. According to an
article in the Charlotte
Observer, nearly 1 out of 5
students in N.C. attend a
non-traditional public
school.
Kris Nordstrom, policy
analyst of the NC Justice
Center, highlighted North
Carolina’s history about
school segregation:
The Pearsall Plan
allowed districts to shutter
schools that became inte
grated. It was declared
unconstitutional in 1969 in
Godwin v. Johnston
County BOE. In 1971, a
team of NAACP lawyers
argued in Swann v.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg
Board of Education that
the district had to use stu
dent assignment and bus
ing to integrate its schools.
Progress was sidetracked
in 2001 when the Fourth
Circuit Court of Appeals
declared Charlotte-
Mecklenburg’s racial inte
gration plan illegal.
School segregation is
associated with increasing
racial achievement gaps,
dropout rates, and incarcer
ation rates. On average,
racially and economically
isolated schools attract and
retain fewer high-perform
ing teachers and suffer
from greater teacher and
principal turnover. Such
schools are more likely to
be older, dilapidated build
ings.
By contrast, there are
benefits associated with
school integration. A
recent study found that
white student performance
remained similar whether
they went to a school that
was mainly white or one
that was mostly black. The
positive impacts of school
integration go beyond test
scores. Students attending
integrated schools are less
prejudiced, increase cross-
racial trust and friendships,
and enhance their capacity
for working with others.
The Schott Foundation
(2018) rated the states on
these criteria for school
choice:
States are rated on the
extent to which they have
instituted policies and
practices that lead toward
fewer democratic opportu
nities and more privatiza
tion, as well as the
guardrails they have (or
have not) put into place to
protect the rights of stu
dents, communities and
taxpayers, (p. 2)
The grade for North
Carolina was F. More than
half the schools in the
WS/FCS have a heavy
concentration of low-
income students. The
implementation of the
choice pupil assignment
plan in WS/FCS has pro
duced a school system that
produced only 52.8 percent
of third graders reading at
grade level (Bragg, 2018,
par.,13). WS/FCS facili
tates approximately 30
failing schools, most of
which are in the inner city,
and all of which are Title I.
A Civil Rights discrimina
tion complaint has been
filed with the U.S.
Department of Justice.
Forsyth County is one of
the ten most racially and
economically segregated
school districts of the state
(Nordstrom, 2018).
Cookson, Darling-
Hammond, Rothman, &
Shields (2018) offered four
lessons on how to create a
system of schools worth
attending for all.
Lesson 1: Make All
Schools Worthy of Being
Chosen
Lesson 2: Ensure
Access to High-Quality
Schools for All
Lesson 3: Promote
Diversity and Inclusion
Lesson 4: Leave No
School Behind
Nordstrom (2018)
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specified what voters can
do. A recent smdy of North
Carolina school board
elections data shows that
electing at least one
Democrat leads to student
reassignment that is 18
percent closer to achieving
racial parity for each
school. What if we had a
majority of Democrats?
Dr. Edwin Bell is
Professor Emeritus of
Winston-Salem State
University. He was the
chair of the Dept, of
Education at WSSU.
Malishai Woodbury is
a professional educator,
adjunct lecturer at NC
A&T State University in
History Dept., and
Winston-Salem/Forsyth
County Schools District 1
WSFC School Board-
Elect.
Kris Nordstrom is poli
cy analyst at NC Justice
Center.
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