A general view of the court honoring Martin Luther King Day is seen prior to an NBA basketball between the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Atlanta Hawks on Monday, Jan. 18, 2021, in Atlanta.The lack of access to basic financial services in poor and Black neighborhoods has forced underserved populations to rely on costly alternatives like check-cashing, money orders, and payday loans.
In December, the Atlanta Hawks announced a historic $35 million transaction with 11 Black banks, which will allow them to extend new lines of credit to would-be Black homebuyers and entrepreneurs. Ashley Bell is a partner at the global law firm Dentons and serves as counsel for the National Black Bank Foundation.Visit Business Insider's homepage for more storiesFifty years after the Fair Housing Act banned the systematic denial of credit to borrowers based on race or where they lived, lenders still rejected mortgages for Black applicants at a rateBy law, banks can no longer reject a borrower on the basis of race.
Unfortunately, that's the reality for many people of color. Breaking that cycle of financial exclusion requires building up the banks that have locations near and serve people of color. For most Black Americans, those are Black-owned banks.
PaulZeise Realrclark25 AshleyBellR Community Reinvestment Act and other government initiatives including mortgage programs have been ramping access in economically underserved areas for decades by mandate. It's all about education. This piece will promote more separation and racism.
PaulZeise Realrclark25 AshleyBellR If you’re a dude named Ashley, you should give serious consideration to changing your name. And then put your parents on blast for making such a stupid decision.