Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (June 13, 2018)
Page 2 The Skanner June 13, 2018 ® Challenging People to Shape a Better Future Now Redlining Settlement Fails to Provide Strong Penalties Bernie Foster Founder/Publisher F Bobbie Dore Foster Executive Editor Jerry Foster Advertising Manager Christen McCurdy News Editor Patricia Irvin Graphic Designer Monica J. Foster Seattle Office Coordinator Susan Fried Photographer 2017 MERIT AWARD WINNER The Skanner Newspaper, es- tablished in October 1975, is a weekly publication, published every Wednesday by IMM Publi- cations Inc. 415 N. Killingsworth St. P.O. Box 5455 Portland, OR 97228 Telephone (503) 285-5555 Fax: (503) 285-2900 info@theskanner.com www.TheSkanner.com The Skanner is a member of the National Newspaper Pub lishers Association and West Coast Black Pub lishers Association. All photos submitted become the property of The Skanner. We are not re spon sible for lost or damaged photos either solicited or unsolicited. ©2018 The Skanner. All rights re served. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission prohibited. LOCAL NEWS BRIEFS on F ebo m me • nts TheSkannerNews o k • learn • co in y o u r c o m m u n ! • L i ke u s ac it Updated daily. y toda or as long as many people of color can remember, Charlene succeeding generations Crowell have called for justice. Despite these age-old pleas, NNPA justice is not only elusive, but Columnist frustrating since the enact- ment of a series of civil rights laws. Despite federal guaran- tees of equal treatment, much followed a near two-year DOJ of Black America experiences investigation that uncovered something short of what was illegal redlining in neighbor- hoods of color. Within the promised. A recent settlement of a metro area, lending in 78 of federal redlining lawsuit is 97 majority-minority census yet another sign that justice tracts were excluded by the is still being denied. Even bank. Further, as KleinBank worse, those entrusted in key expanded to add at least sev- federal agencies are willing to en full-service branches since accept much less than what is 2007, not one is in a communi- ty of color. fair or just. Beyond a failure to serve On January 13, 2017 and as one of the last cases brought all consumers, mortgage under the Obama Adminis- applications and approvals tration, the Department of among consumers of color Justice (DOJ) sued KleinBank, were equally disturbing. Oth- a lender in the Twin Cities’ er metro lenders surpassed metropolitan area with viola- KleinBank by as large a ratio tions of both the Fair Housing as five-to-one in serving con- Act (FHA) and the Equal Cred- sumers of color. it Opportunity Act (ECOA). For example, among the The complaint said in part 5,837 single-family residen- that from at least 2010 to 2015, tial loan applications filed “KleinBank’s discriminatory with KleinBank, only 1.06 per- practices as described here- cent — 62 — came from con- in have been intentional and sumers of color. Of the bank’s willful, and implemented approved 4,392 residential with reckless disregard for mortgages, only 51 were se- the rights of individuals on cured in neighborhoods of the basis of their race and/or color. With these and other find- national origin.” The January 2017 lawsuit ings, DOJ’s complaint request- nt • lo c a l n e w s • eve Check out: TheSkannerReport.com Your One-Stop Hub for Community Newspapers Throughout the U.S. ed both monetary damages to those consumers who fell vic- tim to these illegalities, and a civil penalty to vindicate the public interest. Yet on May 8 of this year when a settlement was reached with the current DOJ, there was no civil penalty or judicial oversight – two key elements in earlier settle- ments with similar charges. Among other requirements, a limited, three-year agree- “ A recent settlement of a federal redlining lawsuit is yet another sign that justice is still being denied ment authorized a $300,000 loan subsidy fund to increase credit access in predominant- ly minority neighborhoods, as well as another $300,000 for credit repair initiatives, education, outreach and ad- vertising that would include minority media. The settle- ment required the bank to redraw its Community Re- investment Act assessment area. KleinBank also agreed to open a single branch in a neighborhood of color within the next year. According to the settlement, “The United States agrees to jointly stipulate with Klein- Bank to the dismissal of the Civil Action. The parties agree and acknowledge that this consideration is adequate and sufficient.” Pardon me, but I respectful- ly disagree — and so do others who believe in fair lending. A lack of civil penalty coupled with a brief term of compli- ance does not bode well for fair or just lending. “The absence of a civil pen- alty is noteworthy and incon- sistent with past redlining cases,” noted Melissa Steg- man, a Senior Policy Counsel with the Center for Responsi- ble Lending (CRL). “Further- more, unlike prior cases, the parties entered into a settle- ment agreement — not a con- sent order. A consent order is a more powerful vehicle in that it is subject to the judge’s approv- al. Also, with a court order, the court maintains supervision of the agreement. Arguably, it’s a stronger way to hold the bank accountable for meeting the terms of the settlement.” Read the rest of this commentary at TheSkanner.com Suicides By Racial and Ethnic Minorities are Undercounted Editor’s note: If you are strug- gling with suicidal thoughts, call the National Suicide Life- line at 1-800-273-8255 or the Multnomah County Crisis Line at (503) 988-4888. Help is also available via chat at https:// suicidepreventionlifeline.org/ chat/ or by text at 741741. A Local News Pacific NW News World News Opinions Jobs, Bids Entertainment Community Calendar y • Opinion s a sociologist and criminologist, I often do community out- reach on mental health prevention. I urge organiza- tions and programs to avoid “one size fits all” approaches. There are many ways that mental health issues can im- pact individuals, depending upon race and ethnicity, gen- der identity, sexual identity, religion and more. But I have found mental health conditions and suicide are often still considered a “White people’s problem.” When I speak with African Americans and non-white Hispanics — groups that are often overlooked by the men- tal health community — I’m often asked why I’m “wasting time” addressing race, ethnic- ity and other cultural varia- tions. In some ways, this is not surprising. Whites make up more than 70 percent of the total U.S. population and have the high- est rate of suicide relative to Dr. Kimya N. Dennis The Conversation population size. In the African American community, there’s a tenden- cy to label suicide and mental health conditions as “crazy” or evidence that you aren’t praying enough. People in this culture, as well as His- panic, Asian and American Indian communities, are less likely to acknowledge the possibility of having a health condition or seek mental health services. Or, as some commentators and academ- ics have said, suicide is seen as a “White thing” – “African Americans don’t ‘do’ suicide.” Unfortunately, despite the existence of culturally specif- ic support systems, many cul- tures still experience silence and shame around mental health issues. This is reflected in the care that’s provided as well. Based on false assumptions, many health professionals and health services end up, inten- tionally or unintentionally, catering to predominantly White consumers. Counting errors The problem is partly due to data. Whites have a suicide rate of 18.5 per 100,000 people, leading to the highest total number of suicides for any racial or ethnic group in the U.S. Whites also comprise the majority of membership in suicide prevention organiza- tions and have greater access to resources needed to seek “ Suicide is seen as a ‘White thing’ – ‘African Americans don’t ‘do’ suicide’ out mental health services. Meanwhile, African Amer- icans make up about 12 to 13 percent of the U.S. population and are underrepresented in suicide data. Data suggest that African Americans have approximately 6 percent of the recorded rate of suicide compared to whites. But this data is likely incomplete – thanks to deaths that have been misclassified. African American, His- panic and American Indian suicides have historically been more misclassified than White suicide – and still are to this day. No one knows which specific deaths have been mis- classified. However, research- ers believe that these errors can be largely attributed to either the coroner’s misclas- sification of cause of death as homicide or undetermined or the family’s desire not to record the accurate cause of death. That leaves data at the local, state and national level incomplete. Over the last 40 years, there has been slight decline in the number of suicides misclassi- fied as undetermined or unin- tentional, although this trend varies by demographics and cultures. There’s no clear reason why the cause of death is becom- ing more accurately classi- fied. Possible causes include more research on misclassifi- cation; better record keeping by law enforcement and coro- ners; and family awareness of cause of death. Failing to seek help Societal attitudes towards African American men may also partly explain why sui- cide data is incomplete. I be- lieve that we should talk about how socioeconomic factors influence inward violence, or violence toward oneself. Read the rest of this commentary at TheSkanner.com
