WADE RATHKE is the founder of ACORN, Chief Organizer at ACORN International, and Author of "Nuts & Bolts", "Citizen Wealth", "Global Grassroots", and "The Battle for the 9th Ward".
New Orleans With the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency leading the way to gut the Community Reinvestment Act along with some other federal regulators, the last thing we should be doing is having to remind everyone, including the government and its legions of politicians, about the importance of stopping redlining of neighborhoods based …
New Orleans There’s a big split within the federal banking establishment about what to do about revisions to the 1977 Community Reinvestment Act. This is not your run of the mill, chest thumping, and elbow pushing in Washington over turf and regulatory jurisdiction. It’s actually very important, particularly to low-and-moderate income families and their …
New Orleans The Federal Reserve report on the continued decrease in lending to African-American and Hispanic families is unambiguous. In 2013, 4.8% of total home loans were to African-Americans, 7.3% were to Hispanics. In 2012, the numbers were only marginally better at 5.1% and 7.2% respectively. As recently as 2006, before the real estate meltdown …
New Orleans The Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) passed in 1978, more than 35 years ago, was straightforward. Banks could no longer redline, meaning they could not use the deposits from lower income and minority neighborhoods to finance mansions for the rich in the sprawling suburbs. More plainly stated, they could not discriminate in their lending. …