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From YouTube: Councilman Johnson Calls for Hearings to Investigate Racial Disparities in Home Lending 2-22-2018
Description
From the Stated Meeting of Philadelphia City Council held Thursday, February 22, 2018:
Councilman Kenyatta Johnson (2nd District) introduces a resolution calling for City Council hearings on racial disparities in home lending following media reports that some lending practices exclude minorities from some city neighborhoods.
B
A
C
A
You,
council
president
council,
president
and
colleagues,
equitable
and
inclusive
housing
policy
has
been
a
priority
for
me
since
I
arrived
in
this
body
in
2012,
as
a
young
man,
I
decided
to
become
a
public
servant
because
I
wanted
to
take
one
of
the
justices
that
I
saw
in
the
world
and
particularly
my
own
community.
This
week,
I
have
seen
a
sickening
unacceptable
but,
most
importantly,
unamerican
injustice.
A
When
we
talk
about
segregation,
we
are
usually
talking
about
the
Jim
Crow
era,
separate
schools,
separate
churches,
separate
water
fountains,
and
we
sometimes
give
in
to
the
myth
that
the
civil
rights
movement
is
relegated
racial
segregation
to
the
darker
days
of
American
history.
But
here
we
are
on
the
50th
anniversary
of
the
Fair
Housing
Act
and
deep
segregation
is
alive
and
kicking.
It
is
a
legacy
of
federally
sanctioned
redlining
policies
that
designated
black
neighborhoods
as
credit
risk
for
home
loans.
A
Home
ownership,
which
is
commonly
considered
the
cornerstone
of
the
American
Dream,
is
to
some
an
American
Nightmare.
But
earlier
this
week
we
got
a
powerful
proof
of
modern-day
redlining.
The
Center
for
Investigative
Reporting
released
an
in-depth
report
that
took
a
year
of
intensive
research,
including
review
of
31
million
documents.
They
found
that
banks
were
denying
home,
purchase
loans,
home
improvement
loans,
a
home
refinancing
to
applicants
of
color
and
fire
far
higher
rights.
That's
it
to
their
Caucasian
applicants.
In
Philadelphia
black
long
home
applicants
were
2.7
times
more
likely
to
be
denied.
A
A
A
This
is
not
right
and
I'm
going
to
work
with
my
colleagues
to
get
to
the
bottom
of
it
next
month,
so
next
month,
I'll
be
holding
hearings
to
get
a
grip
on
the
root
causes
of
this
problem
and,
most
importantly,
hold
those
accountable
and
the
banking
and
mortgage
industry
accountable
as
to
how
they
go
about
their
loan
application
processes
to
those
who
live
here
in
the
city
of
Philadelphia
Reverend,
dr.
Martin
King
once
said.
The
time
is
always
right
to
do
the
right
thing
and
now
is
that
time.
Thank
You
council,
president
Thank.