Page 2 The Skanner October 18, 2017
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Opinion
Black America’s Dreams of Homeownership Still Deferred
T
he late Langston Hughes
created a masterful
body of poetry in the
20th Century that spoke
about and to Black America’s
unique experiences. Also an
author and playwright, his
words in all media pricked
our consciousness to wonder
and ponder how we somehow
remained so different from
others after living more than
200 years in this land.
One of my favorite Hughes
poems asks the question,
“What happens to a dream
deferred?” Today, that one
question is as timeless as it is
timely.
Why is it that in 2017 Black
homeownership is still de-
ferred for so many?
Every year, the Home Mort-
gage Disclosure Act (HMDA)
report provides an update on
mortgage lending over the
past year. It is the only nation-
al report that examines lend-
ing by race and incomes. In
2016, an analysis of mortgage
lending by the Center for
Responsible Lending (CRL)
underscores how once again
dreams of homeownership
are still being deferred na-
tionwide:
• Blacks had the highest de-
nial rate in mortgage ap-
plications of any ethnic
group, and was double the
denial rate experienced by
Charlene
Crowell
NNPA
Columnist
Whites;
• Black consumers received
just 3.1 percent or 65,451 of
the 2,123,000 conventional
mortgage purchase loans
made in 2016;
• When Black and Latino con-
ventional mortgage pur-
chase loans were combined,
the percentage increased to
only 9 percent for the year;
and
• FHA purchase mortgages
performed a bit better for
Black consumers at 10.6
percent -- 142,329 out of
866,000.
“It is troubling to see the
continued trend of mort-
gage lenders abdicating their
responsibility to serve the
full universe of credit-wor-
thy borrowers,” said Nikitra
Bailey, a CRL Executive Vice
President.
Bailey continued: “During
the financial crisis, taxpayers
of all colors together paid for
the bailout of banks. Now and
years later to see that Afri-
can-Americans and Latinos
remain overly dependent
upon FHA to access mortgag-
es is a sign of unfair treat-
ment. Whites continue to un-
fairly receive more favorable
access to affordable loans, de-
spite our nation’s fair lending
laws.”
For decades, Black consum-
ers were given a litany of ex-
cuses as to why they did not
qualify for the most afford-
able mortgages: not enough
income, not enough of an em-
ployment record, too many
bills, and more.
“
Why is
financial
justice is
so elusive
for Black
America?
But it was just last year that
Nielsen released a report that
found “a decade of economic
and educational prosperity”
from 2004 to 2014. During
these years, Nielsen found
that Blacks had a collective
$162 billion in buying pow-
er. By 2020, that purchasing
power was projected to rise
to $1.4 trillion, thanks in part,
to the number of Blacks earn-
ing $100,000 or more. Over
the decade reviewed, Black
earnings in this income range
grew 95 percent, compared
to the rest of the nation. Even
solid middle class incomes of
$50,000 to $75,000 grew at a
rate of 18 percent.
So, if Black America is bet-
ter educated and earnings are
growing—what is the problem
with gaining access to mort-
gage loans? And if America is
a land of laws, why is financial
justice so elusive for Black
America?
“As we move beyond the
sub-prime crisis, we continue
to see the housing and credit
market systematically either
deny or send less attractive
products to the Black and Lati-
no community,” noted john. a.
powell, an internationally ac-
claimed Professor of Law and
Professor of African Ameri-
can Studies and Ethnic Stud-
ies at the University of Cali-
fornia, Berkeley.
“This problem which is both
historical, structural and
interpersonal will not be ad-
dressed unless we face and
make affirmative interven-
tions,” continued powell. “As
useful as the data is, it is not
enough. The nature of struc-
tures is to reproduce the cur-
rent condition. We can and
must do better than that.”
Read the rest of this commentary at
TheSkanner.com
Dick Gregory – a Birthday Remembrance
T
he celebration of the life
of Dick Gregory on Sat-
urday September 16th at
the City of Praise church
in Landover, Md. was over
seven hours of eclectic diver-
sity from a serenade by Na-
tive Americans to a musical
tribute with Ayanna Gregg’s
daughter and Stevie Wonder,
to speakers MSNBC’s Law-
rence O’ Donnell to DC Mayor
Muriel Bowser, to the fiery
Rep. Maxine Waters, who
vowed to help impeach that
“thing” in the White House.
There were torrents of Hal-
lelujahs and especially As-Sa-
laam Al-akum as Nation of
Islam head Min. Louis Farra-
khan began a profoundly up-
lifting eulogy.
It was fascinating to see
how a man born on Oct. 12,
1932, so far down in the
cracks of society could rise
so far: jailed countless times
in the fight for human rights;
13 books written; a star on
Hollywood’s Walk of Fame,
movie roles, a celebrated
humorist and global human-
itarian. Born 85 years ago
in the slums of St. Louis, his
mother, Lucille Gregory, had
to put plastic on her feet to
keep them from getting wet as
she walked to work. A White
man knocked out two of his
front teeth at 10-years old for
touching a White woman as
he shined her shoes; the fami-
ly was chronically evicted for
Dr. Barbara
Reynolds
NNPA
Columnist
the inability to pay their $18
monthly rent.
What kind of journalist
would I have become if it had
not been for Gregory becom-
“
He was the
one who
pushed me
to go out on
a limb for
unpopular
people
ing my mentor and coach for
more than three decades as I
tried to survive as a pioneer-
ing Black woman journalist
in White newsrooms? I have
pondered this thought since
his death, but intently on his
birthday, Oct. 12. He had an in-
credible impact on my career.
He was the one who pushed
me to go out on a limb for un-
popular people and for caus-
es even if the limb broke off;
how not to discount conspir-
acies just because it is safer
to believe a lie rather than an
unpopular truth; and how to
look and expose the liars, the
exploiters in high places, no
matter who and where they
were.
Should I state the obvious
how badly Gregory is still
needed today?
Of course, following the
Dick Gregory style book
meant you wouldn’t have a
job long. In some newsrooms
the reward for not toeing the
company line, disbelieving
that White is always right,
and caring more for the mass-
es at the bottom than the big
shots at the top means a swift
kick out the door.
It was not unusual for Greg-
ory to entice me to venture off
to distant lands or to stick my
nose into events that sounded
and looked correct but would
turn out to be rotten to the
core.
Gregory was a renowned
health enthusiast who devel-
oped weight loss products,
such as the Bahamian Diet,
that were popular in the
states.
In 1985, he developed a
low cost nutritional product
to fight famine and took 50
truckloads of it to Ethiopia. I
went with him and I saw hun-
dreds dying from starvation
in resettlement camps in the
desert. I held in my hands,
5-year-old children so ema-
ciated that they looked half
their ages, and women so ex-
hausted that they collapsed as
they walked. The products he
delivered saved many lives.
I began to understand that
hunger and homelessness in
the world where people are
dying from obesity is crimi-
nal. It is not because of a lack
of resources, but a lack of
will, and the failure to hold
governments, such as that in
Ethiopia accountable. Grego-
ry’s amazing success in Ethi-
opia did not get press in the
United States. But he told me
his mission was saving lives,
which was all that mattered.
Even amidst such tears,
Gregory could bring humor.
On the way back home from
Ethiopia the plane stopped
briefly in Rome and much to
the surprise of his friends, he
grabbed his bag and headed
for the exit.
“Why are you getting off
here?” I hollered at him. With
a smile and a swagger he an-
swered, “Don’t forget I am an
international nigger,” which
left the rest of us laughing.
Dick Gregory was often
shunned and slammed as a
“conspiracy nut.” In time,
he usually would be proved
right. Greg and I would of-
ten meet at some out of- the
way place. He would pull out
his big battered brown brief
case jammed with reports
and facts counter to what the
news bosses wanted to see.
Read the rest of this commentary at
TheSkanner.com