Freedman’s Bank Reparations, Racial Wealth Divide and Homeownership

NCRC ([link removed] )

Just News

for March 1, 2024

News and views from the National Community Reinvestment Coalition. Find more at ncrc.org ([link removed] ) .

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Announcements

The 2024 Just Economy Conference Is A Month Away!

If you haven't already registered for the 2024 Just Economy Conference, please do so today! We want to see you in DC for two full days of sessions, keynotes and networking! [Read More ([link removed] ) ]

News

Congress Could Solve A 150-Year-Old Mistake With These Reparations

By Jesse Van Tol, The Washington Post

The tragedy of Freedman’s Bank was categorically different. No one raised a fist, let alone a mob. What happened to the bank was years of fraud and abuse that eventually collided with a complex economic shock. The bank, whose trustees were all White, lobbied Congress to loosen its charter, spent a sizable chunk of its total assets to build a grand headquarters, loaned depositors’ money to trustees’ friends without collateral, and concentrated its investment portfolio in speculative real estate and railroad lending. The Panic of 1873 finished the job the trustees’ malicious self-dealing had begun — though not before the same trustees lured Frederick Douglass to lend them his reputation by becoming president, a decision he’d later describe as like being “married to a corpse.” [Read More ([link removed] ) ]

NCRC Opposes Capital One-Discover Merger

By NCRC

“It is very difficult to imagine how federal regulators could allow Capital One to buy Discover given the requirement that mergers benefit the public as well as insiders,” Van Tol said. “I oppose this deal and will recommend NCRC members challenge it as well. Capital One has a pattern of making deals that benefit the bank, but not customers and communities. Their terrible track record on compliance – including numerous BSA/AML violations – should give the regulators pause. The deal also poses massive antitrust concerns, given the vertical integration of Capital One’s credit card lending with Discover’s credit card network.” [Read More ([link removed] ) ]

Views

The Racial Wealth Divide And Black Homeownership: New Data Show Small Gains, Deep Fragility

By Joseph Dean, NCRC

For most families, their home is the primary way they store and build wealth. The Black-White homeownership gap is therefore the primary driver of the Black-White racial wealth divide. NCRC has called for policymakers to set a target Black homeownership rate of 60% within the next 20 years. [Read More ([link removed] ) ]

Cash, Culture And Care: Navigating Dementia In An Indian American Family

By Monica Grover, NCRC

The Alzheimer’s Association describes dementia as “a general term for loss of memory, language, problem-solving and other thinking abilities that are severe enough to interfere with daily life.” Dementia is a global health crisis affecting nearly 55 million people. [Read More ([link removed] ) ]

NCRC And WSECU: Pioneering Collaborative Efforts For Community-Centric Financial Branches

By Jason Richardson and Catherine Petrusz

In a groundbreaking partnership, the National Community Reinvestment Coalition joined forces with the Washington State Employees Credit Union to identify the optimal location for a new branch in Tacoma, Washington. This collaboration underscores NCRC’s commitment to assisting financial institutions in establishing branches that not only thrive financially but also effectively meet the needs of low- and moderate-income communities. [Read More ([link removed] ) ]

Research

An Initial Overview of Banking Institutions’ Racial Economic Equity Commitments

By NCRC

Three years after George Floyd was murdered, in an attempt to assess the fulfillment and impact of some of the promises made, the NCRC reviewed pledges by the nation’s 25 largest banking institutions and the commitments of leading fintech organizations. [Read More ([link removed] ) ]

Video

Redlining The Reservation

By NCRC

Citizens on tribal lands live starkly different lives from Americans living in other areas, with limited quality-of-life necessities like electricity, fresh water, sanitation and heating and cooling systems for housing. Learn how tribal areas have been cut out of the financial system, and what can be done about it in our webinar “Redlining the Reservation." [Read More ([link removed] ) ]

Events

Habitat for Humanity's 2024 Affiliate Conference

March 6, 8 am - 5 pm ET

Habitat for Humanity’s 2024 Affiliate Conference is March 4-7 in Atlanta, Georgia. NCRC’s Senior Policy Advisor Kevin Hill will be speaking on the panel, “The Community Reinvestment Act (CRA): What is it? How Can Affiliates Use It to Increase Production?” [Register Here ([link removed] ) ]

Changes To The Community Reinvestment Act: An Opportunity For Asset Building Philanthropy

March 13, 1 pm ET

Join NCRC President and CEO Jesse Van Tol on Wednesday, March 13 from 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm ET at Asset Founders Network’s webinar, “Changes to the Community Reinvestment Act: An Opportunity for Asset Building Philanthropy,” to hear about how the impending changes to the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) can enhance wealth-building initiatives for low- and moderate-income communities. [Register Here ([link removed] ) ]

In The News

Philly's Racial Wealth Gap Is Wider Now Than In 1960. Here Are Programs Working To Fix It

By Vicky Diaz-Camacho, WHYY PBS

New initiatives want to stop persistent wealth discrepancies between people of color and their white counterparts.

Vicky Diaz-Camacho/WHYY, National Community Reinvestment Coalition, National Bureau Of Economic Research [Read More ([link removed] ) ]

Capital One-Discover Merger Could Put A Bigger Squeeze On Credit Card Users, Experts Warn

By J.J. McCorvey, NBC News

The National Community Reinvestment Coalition, an advocacy group that looks to funnel private investment into underserved communities, also wasted no time criticizing the merger. “It is very difficult to imagine how federal regulators could allow Capital One to buy Discover given the requirement that mergers benefit the public as well as insiders,” CEO Jess Van Tol said in a statement Tuesday. “The deal also poses massive antitrust concerns, given the vertical integration of Capital One’s credit card lending with Discover’s credit card network.” [Read More ([link removed] ) ]

On Our Radar

I Worked at Capital One for Five Years. This Is How We Justified Piling Debt on Poor Customers.

By Elena Botella, The New Republic

The real question, of course, isn’t whether a credit card with a 27 percent interest rate and a $39 late fee is better than a payday loan. It’s whether Capital One’s marketing campaigns push people into debt who would have otherwise avoided it; whether it is actually in a person’s best interest, desperate though they may be, to borrow money at an exorbitant rate; and whether this enterprise is ethically defensible—in particular, for the decent, hard-working employees who toil every day to make Capital One’s mercenary strategy a reality. Because the ugly truth is that subprime credit is all about profiting from other people’s misery. [Read More ([link removed] ) ]

Why US Housing Inflation Relief May Be Short-Lived

By Howard Schneider, Reuters

Fed officials acknowledge the difficulty of finding a rate setting that keeps overall demand in check without choking off the supply of new homes and apartments, but some argue that policymakers already have leaned against the economy too hard. [Read More ([link removed] ) ]

Resources

Work And Meet At The Just Economy Club

It's a DC hub for nonprofits and the social sector, around the corner from the White House. Move your team into a private office or host your meetings and events or hang out in the lounge. [Read more ([link removed] ) ]

Learning & Training Hub

Register for NCRC's catalog of professional development courses for community development leaders. [Learn ([link removed] ) more ([link removed] ) ]

Research And Reports

We have an extensive library of research and reports that dates back many years! [View all ([link removed] ) ]

Racial Wealth Snapshots

Browse our catalog of socioeconomic briefs. [View all ([link removed] ) ]

Sign And Share The Just Economy Pledge

America should not only promise but deliver to all Americans opportunities to build wealth and live well. Sign and share the pledge to help us expand the movement for a Just Economy. [Sign and Share ([link removed] ) ]

Member Hub

NCRC members: Don't forget you have access to our member hub ([link removed] ) ! Learn more about membership here ([link removed] ) . You can join as an organization or an individual ([link removed] ) .

Fair Lending Tool

Use our interactive tool to produce a report on mortgages, small business lending and bank branch networks for any city, county or metro area in the nation. [Access the tool here ([link removed] ) ]

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