My Leftie commentator Dark Avenger comments this about red lining. That the post about our financial mess and how we got there wasn’t about redlining but rather the unintended consequences of the “fix” totally escapes him. In his words.
This is what redlining is about:My response:
The most devastating form of redlining, and the most common use of the term, refers to mortgage discrimination, in which middle-income black and Hispanic residents are denied loans that are made available to lower-income whites. The term "redlining" was coined in the late 1960s by community activists in Chicago. It describes the practice of marking a red line on a map to delineate the area where banks would not invest; later the term was applied to discrimination against a particular group of people (usually by race or sex), no matter the geography. During the heyday of redlining these areas were most frequently black inner city neighborhoods. Later, through at least the 1990s, this discrimination involved lending to lower-income whites, but not to middle- or upper-income blacks. (ref: Immergluck, Dedman.)
and
Dan Immergluck writes that in 2002 small businesses in black neighborhoods still received fewer loans, even after accounting for business density, business size, industrial mix, neighborhood income, and the credit quality of local businesses.[15] Gregory D. Squires wrote in 2003 that it is clear that race has long affected and continues to affect the policies and practices of the insurance industry.[16] Workers living in American inner cities have a harder time finding jobs than suburban workers.[17] Redlining has helped preserve segregated living patterns for blacks and whites in the United States, because discrimination motivated by prejudice is often contingent on the racial composition of neighborhoods where the loan is sought and the race of the applicant. Lending institutions have been shown to treat black mortgage applicants differently when they are buying homes in white neighborhoods than when buying homes in black neighborhoods.[18]
Yep, nothing wrong with redlining, it's an all-American practice..........
I note your claims are mostly made by Community Organizers (aka Left Wing Demos) and have heard them before. Whether they are true or not, and I find them mostly not true, the "solution" had a side effect that the Democratic Congress refused to treat. See Barney Frank's comments re Bush's 2003 bill.That is the issue. The failure of Congress to act despite the leadership of Bush and McCain, not whether or not red lining existed.
Please explain why Barney Frank said this in 2001:
''These two entities -- Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac -- are not facing any kind of financial crisis,'' said Representative Barney Frank of Massachusetts, the ranking Democrat on the Financial Services Committee. ''The more people exaggerate these problems, the more pressure there is on these companies, the less we will see in terms of affordable housing.''
Representative Melvin L. Watt, Democrat of North Carolina, agreed.
''I don't see much other than a shell game going on here, moving something from one agency to another and in the process weakening the bargaining power of poorer families and their ability to get affordable housing,'' Mr. Watt said.
Obviously Barney and Melvin weren’t paying attention… or playing politics. Or maybe in both.... or maybe they had a problem with "the vision thing." ;-)
Link
