Black America Needs a ‘New Normal’: Equitable Credit Access to Build Wealth
By Charlene Crowell
Charlene Crowell
Over the past year, the COVID-19 pandemic has imposed dual crises. Over 542,000 Americans lives were lost and continue to increase. At the same time, the rippling effects of a massive economic downturn has caused the nation to lose 9.5 million jobs – more losses than even those of the Great Recession, finds the University of New Hampshire’s Carsey School of Public Policy.
Although many officials have called for a ‘return to normal’, millions of small businesses and communities need something new instead. In Black America especially, the ‘old normal’ never delivered equitable access to wealth-building opportunities as those that well-served served much of white America. Instead, a lengthy history of public policies designed to create and sustain a burgeoning middle class systemically excluded Blacks and other people of color.
Black America Needs A âNew Normalâ: Equitable Credit Access To Build Wealth
April 2, 2021
By Charlene Crowell
(Trice Edney Wire) – Over the past year, the COVID-19 pandemic has imposed dual crises. Over 542,000 Americans lives were lost and continue to increase. At the same time, the rippling effects of a massive economic downturn has caused the nation to lose 9.5 million jobs – more losses than even those of the Great Recession, finds the University of New Hampshireâs Carsey School of Public Policy.
Although many officials have called for a âreturn to normalâ, millions of small businesses and communities need something new instead. In Black America especially, the âold normalâ never delivered equitable access to wealth-building opportunities as those that well-served served much of white America. Instead, a lengthy history of public policies designed to create and sustain a burgeoning middle class systemically excluded Blacks and o
COVID-19 exposes inequities dating back to redlining era
The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed inequities within the health care system, but inequities in health and wealth date back generations. Author: Taylor Weiter, Dennis Ting Published: 6:51 PM EDT March 16, 2021 Updated: 11:28 PM EDT March 16, 2021
LOUISVILLE, Ky. While Hikes Point and Parkland are separated by just 10 miles, the experiences of people growing up in those neighborhoods can feel worlds apart.
A real estate attorney who works with nonprofits like Habitat for Humanity and the Louisville Urban League, John Borders Jr. is an expert on home ownership and real estate transactions.
Though he often works with people in west Louisville, the Hikes Point native said he only recently began to understand the disparity of wealth between the city’s Black and white communities.
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In the early 20th century, the federal government engaged in housing “redlining” a practice that conditioned access to federally backed home loans on the perceived economic health of a neighborhood and used demographic factors such as race in those decisions.
Redlining is a term derived from maps drawn by the Home Owners Loan Corporation (HOLC) in the 1930s, which color-coded neighborhoods, using red to denote areas that were perceived to be “hazardous” for lending. This practice of redlining had an effect on access to credit and where people could live and, because where families live determines what public schools their children attend, meant families living in “hazardous” areas were often zoned to underperforming schools.
How can maps fight racism and inequality?
The work of the Black Panther Party, a 1960s- and 1970s-era Black political group featured in a new movie and a documentary, helps illustrate how cartography – the practice of making and using maps – can illuminate injustice.
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As these films show, the Black Panthers focused on African American empowerment and community survival, running a diverse array of programming that ranged from free school breakfasts to armed self-defense.
In 1971 the Panthers collected 15,000 signatures on a petition to create new police districts in Berkeley, California – districts that would be governed by local citizen commissions and require officers to live in the neighborhoods they served. The proposal made it onto the ballot but was defeated.