Oct. 23, 2016

Gunmen Shoot Up Sign Marking Place Where Emmett Till’s Body Was Found

Special to the Trice Edney News Wire from NorthStarNewsToday.com

Oct. 23, 2016

Blackonomics

Buy Black Campaigns
By James Clingman      

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - The advent of initiatives throughout this country to “Buy Black” and “Bank Black” can be traced back to the early 1900’s during which time campaigns similar to today’s efforts were established.  Slogans such as “Double-Duty Dollars,” “Don’t shop where you can’t work,” and efforts such as Black Cooperatives cropped up as a result of our forebears understanding and being willing to act upon the fact that their dollars mattered.

Double Duty Dollar campaigns were simply what we call “Recycling Black Dollars” campaigns.  As Blacks spent their money at Black owned businesses, the volume of business increased to a level where other Black folks could be hired by Black companies.  In other words, we used our dollars to create our own jobs.  “Don’t buy where you can’t work” campaigns helped increase Black employment in White owned businesses, again because “Black Dollars Matter” and the absence of Black dollars matters even more to those with whom we do business.

Black religious leaders also encouraged sensible Black dollar strategies.  In Juliet E.K. Walker’s book, The History of Black Business in America, she cites a quote from religious leaders during that time.  “To the Negro community, a business is more than a mere enterprise to make profit for the owner.  From the standpoints of both the customer and the owner it becomes a symbol of racial progress, for better or for worse. And the preacher is expected to encourage his flock to trade with Negroes.”

Black Cooperatives among Black owned grocery stores, drug stores, shoe stores, and the beauty salon industry were quite prominent in the early 1900’s.  In these co-ops members also did something we talk about today.  They pooled their money to establish and support their own businesses, and Black churches were at the forefront of many of these efforts as well.  Co-op shares were purchased by members, and the money was used to open businesses where the members shopped and, in essence, supported themselves by getting a return on their investment.  W.E.B. DuBois envisioned what he called a “Cooperative Commonwealth” among Black folks.

The recently revived Black Bank Deposit campaign also has an interesting history.  Prior to integration, as many as 134 Black owned banks had been established, in addition to Black credit unions, and other financial organizations.  By World War II there were only six Black banks still in existence, including the one at the center of the current deposit campaign, Citizens Bank in Atlanta, founded by Herman Perry in 1921. It’s great to see a return to what we used to do with our dollars way back when.

Buying and banking Black are more than just hoopla and celebration, more than a moment in time, and more than a temporary gesture to “show” others how much money we have.  Buying and banking Black are practices that should become habits, so much so that it becomes an “unconsciously competent” act, as President and CEO of the National Bankers Association and my longtime friend, Michael Grant, wrote in his book, Beyond Blame.

In order for a movement to be sustained it must be organized and it must have a vehicle through which our strategies can be tested, measured, adjusted, and brought to fruition.  It must also comprise a critical mass of dedicated, resolute, unapologetic, and unrelenting foot soldiers to make the requisite sacrifices necessary for long term success.

Buying and banking Black are about leveraging our dollars to distribute our products cost efficiently and cost effectively, and having the ability to create economies of scale by working and buying cooperatively.  We must think differently about opening bank accounts.  They should be viewed as actual investments in our banks and credit unions, as we open saving accounts and other instruments that have a longer term positive effect on their balance sheets.  Our nonprofit organizations should have some of their funds on account at Black banks as well, and we should hold them responsible for doing so. Buying and banking Black must have a positive impact on our own future.

What is that vehicle and who are those people that are already organized, already solidified, already sacrificing, already committed, and already depositing their funds into a Black bank?  I’m glad you asked.  It’s THE One million Conscious and Conscientious Black Contributors and Voters.  Go to www.iamoneofthemillion.com and check it out.  If you agree with some of our principles and positions, please join us.

Oct. 23, 2016

Problems of the 1960s Still Plague Black Community 
By Holly Rodriguez

Former Virginia Gov. L. Douglas Wilder was America's first elected Black governor.

Special to the Trice Edney News Wire from the Richmond Free Press

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - The problems driving dissatisfaction among African-Americans in the 1960s — discriminatory police practices, unemployment, unequal pay, poverty and more — continue to plague many people in the African-American community today.

That was the assessment of Dr. Elsie Harper-Anderson, assistant professor of Urban and Regional Planning at the L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs at Virginia Commonwealth University. She and a panel of experts spoke Oct. 17 at the daylong Wilder Symposium at VCU, located in Richmond, the former capital of the Confederacy.

The theme: “Race and American Society: 50 Years After the Kerner Commission Report.” The Kerner Commission Report was ordered by President Lyndon B. Johnson to investigate the cause of riots in several U.S. cities in the summer of 1967. Completed in March 1968, the commission identified 164 “disorders” contributing to the civil unrest and advised immediate action. 

Former Gov. L. Douglas Wilder talks about conditions in Richmond during his childhood during the symposium on race and American society at Virginia Commonwealth University. The Wilder Symposium explored the commission’s recommendations, whether they were implemented, and the report’s influence on race relations and equality today.

“The freedoms and opportunities of all Americans are diminished and imperiled when they are denied to some Americans,” the report stated. The “unrecoverable loss to the nation which this denial has already caused — and continues to produce — no longer can be ignored or afforded.”

Dr. Harper-Anderson said she was most “struck by the fact that I could take the dates out (of the 1968 report) and the information applies to today.”

A study of area residents’ perspectives on race relations, conducted by the Center for Public Policy at the Wilder School, indicates that 72 percent of Richmond area residents believe race relations in the United States is a major problem and has gotten worse in the last five years. While residents are concerned about race, 60 percent believe that the police in their community are doing a good job, the study found.

Former Gov. L. Douglas Wilder, 85, after whom the symposium is named, offered a personal narrative to provide a snapshot of African-American life in Richmond as he was growing up.

“If we are going to move toward a more perfect union, the truth of the times must be told,” he said.That truth includes the poor public grade schools Gov. Wilder said he attended, with hand-me-down books, an outhouse for a bathroom, no cafeteria and no gym.The ability to excel, he continued, came from the teachers and professors who nurtured him and other leaders. As he remembered the leaders of racial justice from the past, he left the audience with the question, “Where are our leaders today?” 

Joe Madison, Washington, DC-based Sirius/XM Satellite Radio talk show host, said leadership starts at home, and called upon African-American families to root education in homes, churches, communities and prisons. 

“Education is the new currency of the 21st century,” he said. In the future, “there will be those who are educated and those who or not.” The suffering of the uneducated will only continue to expand, he said.

Panel discussions included expanding education and leadership. Distribution of power and resources, the role of faculty in student civic engagement and the relationship between the police and the communities they serve also were addressed.In order to improve the African-American community’s relationship with police, said Dr. William V. Pelfrey Jr., associate professor in the Wilder School’s Criminal Justice Program, “the police need to be able to admit when they have made a mistake.”

He continued, "This is a sacrifice for them...but this is the start to be able to resuscitate these relationships.”

U. S. Rep. Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (D-Va.), who represents Richmond in the 3rd Congressional District, said the need for criminal justice reform is critical, with the police practice of aggressive patrolling is the first of many problems that needs to be addressed.

“Massive incarceration is creating crime … because so many children are being raised … with their parents in jail,” he said. Proper police training, body cameras for police and youth programs are among the suggested solutions he offered.The Nov. 8 elections are an opportunity to move toward the resolutions outlined in the Kerner Commission Report. He said, “Jobs, funding education and criminal justice reform are key in the 2016 elections.” 

Oct. 23, 2016

Black America’s Still Elusive Dream of Homeownership: Mortgage Denials Persist
By Charlene Crowell

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - In recent weeks, a spate of news coverage has referred to America’s “inner cities”. Some may even interpret it as a new code word for minorities, usually referring to Blacks and Latinos.

Yet today, according to Richard Rothstein, a research associate with the Economic Policy Institute, the inner city experience does not encompass all of Black America. More Blacks now live in the suburbs than in urban ghettos, and approximately one-third of Black Americans have incomes higher than that of the respective median earnings.

So why is access to homeownership still so out of reach for consumers of color? Why do so many Blacks and Latinos continue to suffer disproportionate denials for mortgage loans?

A recent analysis of the 2015 Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) data by the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) sheds further light on the fact that even years after a national recovery from the housing collapse, the American Dream remains elusive for much of Black America.

“The HMDA data has shown a persistent difference in denial rates by race and ethnicity and this year is no exception,” wrote CRL. “20.8 percent of African-American applicants were denied a loan in 2015 compared to 16.1 percent of Hispanic applicants and 10 percent of non-Hispanic white applicants.”

Last year more than 6 million home purchase mortgages were made, but only 51,202 or 2.7 percent were conventional loans to Black home buyers. By comparison, non-Hispanic Whites received 1,361,564 conventional loans, and Latinos received 96,975 of these loans. Conventional loans are the most widely available and often the most cost-effective and sustainable mortgages available.

The vast majority of loans to Black consumers in 2015 continued a trend that has grown stronger year to year since the housing meltdown: government-backed loans like FHA or VA account for the overwhelming majority of loans made to Black consumers – 120,618, more than double that for conventional loans. Latino consumers received more with 162,317 loans; but far less compared to 765,880 for Whites. Government secured mortgage loans are an important source of credit and also tend to be more costly than other home loans.

Now contrast those dismal numbers with those from the Census Bureau that found Black Americans are more than 13 percent of the nation’s population, and 1.8 million ages 25 and older hold advanced degrees.

So how is it that when Black college graduation rates are growing and many are living in the suburbs with higher earnings, why are conventional mortgage loans so rare for Black borrowers?

One reason could be that the average credit score needed to get a loan has risen substantially. In 2015 the average credit score for all new loan originations neared 750, a near 50 point increase from the average used in 2001.

Historically, federal housing policies also gave advantages to Whites that were not available to Blacks. As a result, many Whites were able to build up significant wealth that contributes to stronger credit profiles. At the same time, unequal mortgage lending policies made it harder for Blacks to own homes and thereby denied many wealth-building opportunities that could be shared from one generation to another.

"Although the nation's banks have largely recovered from the financial crisis," continued CRL, "the 2015 HMDA data illustrate that they are not using their rebuilt capital to create homeownership opportunities, particularly not for borrowers of color and low-income families.”

“Before the Great Recession,” added Rothstein, “half of all African-Americans owned their own homes. By 2013, it had fallen to 44 percent. Before the Great Recession, the net worth of African-American homeowners averaged $144,000. By 2013, it had fallen to $80,000. This was not a natural calamity that befell the Black middle class but one precipitated in part by unlawful banking and governmental practices that have mostly gone remedied.”

When it comes to homeownership, the facts are clear. The real question for Black America is, ‘what do we intend to do about it?’ Economic inclusion – not exclusion – would offer a real chance to build more Black economic security.

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Charlene Crowell is a communications deputy director with the Center for Responsible Lending. She can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..