Jun 15, 2020
It took years of activism by community leaders before Congress enacted the Community Reinvestment Act in 1977. This legislation was meant to undo decades of discrimination by banks against African Americans, Latinx and other non-white people seeking mortgages and small business loans. It required banks to lend and made them accountable to community interests. As Paulina Gonzalez-Brito explains, redlining create the predatory lending industry, which continues today. As executive director of the California Reinvestment Coalition, she engages 300 organizations across the state in requiring banks to meet their CRA obligations. And she is spearheadinga vigorous campaign to prevent the Trump Administration from dismantling this essential civil rights law. The story of who is leading this assault, and how, is essential listening. The pandemic of racism calls for action and saving the CRA is at the heart of the matter. We must all participate in the next chapter.