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
