To Be Equal 
May 6, 2023

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - “At last, there is a critical mass of people all over the country who are are prepared to draw the line against conservative efforts to erase Black history, against efforts to make anti-racism unnameable, against efforts to undermine the ability of the next generation to understand what the meaning of that history is for the here and now.” -- Kimberlé Crenshaw

In Florida, activists staged a sit-in outside the office of Governor Ron DeSantis, who signed a law last week that bans teaching about systemic racism and gender and race discrimination.

In Washington, D.C., and New York City, protestors marched outside the College Board headquarters to protest the watering-down of its AP African-American History course.

Across the country, concerned citizens convened Teach-ins on college campuses and read-alouds of banned books.

And dozens of Urban League affiliate presidents, gathered in New Orleans for a Leadership Summit, stood together for the Freedom To Learn National Day of Action on Wednesday, expressing their solidarity with the thousands of Americans defending truthful, inclusive education and efforts to remedy systemic racial inequities.

Schools banned nearly 1,650 individual books in the last school year, most of them because they include themes about race or sexuality. Among the titles deemed to be too dangerous for children to read are Toni Morrison’s novel The Bluest Eye, which explores “the devastating effects of racism and self-hatred on young black girls in America;” Ibram X. Kendi‘s Antiracist Baby, a guide for discussing racism with young children; and Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, for which earned author Mildred D. Taylor the Newberry Medal, presented for "the most distinguished contributions to American literature for children".

Access to truthful history, diverse books and critical ideas for students and educators are crucial to the nation’s history as a multicultural democracy. The so-called “War on Wokeness” threatens to eradicate decades of progress toward racial justice, by warping our view of the nation’s past, and thwart our future progress toward an equitable, multicultural society.

As highlighted in the National Urban League’s 2023 State of Black America® report, “Democracy in Peril: Confronting the Threat Within,” 21 states already have enacted measures that censor the honest examination of racism and race in American society, and the College Board has excised crucial material from its AP African American Studies curriculum in response.

The Freedom to Learn campaign has demanded that the College Board:

• restore the AP African American Studies curriculum
• commit to making the course available online to students who live in states in which politicians have enacted bans of books, knowledge, and ideas contained in the original curriculum that would prevent the course from being taught in those states
• conduct an independent investigation into to how the course development process was corrupted by outside political forces
• hold all implicated College Board officials accountable

It is a betrayal of democratic values for any responsible leader to actively participate in distorting or denying any part of our country’s history.”

As Loyola University professor of communication and African and African American Studies Karsonya “Kaye” Wise Whitehead noted, “It is not simply a debate about curriculum. We are standing up and saying that our classrooms — this nation’s heart and soul — are not up for debate; they are not up for discussion. You are not going to whitewash us out of history.”

March 14, 2023
FCC accused of bowing to bigoted perceptions

By Hazel Trice Edney

Soo Kim's Standard General's acquisition of Tegna has stalled at the FCC. But civil rights leaders and Black media advocates who support the deal show no signs of giving up.

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - A major acquisition that civil rights leaders and advocates for Black-owned media had hoped would increase media ownership, opportunity, and participation by African-Americans and other minorities has apparently “hit a brick wall.”

Following months of advocacy and public support for a $5.4 billion acquisition of Tegna by Standard General, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has essentially killed the deal by sending it to an administrative judge for a hearing, a process that could mire it down in red tape. Standard General is led by Soo Kim, a Korean American immigrant who moved to Queens, N.Y. when he was just 5 years old. Soo Kim’s vision for the future of local broadcast news is one where diverse voices are escalated and heard to better represent the communities they serve.

“As part of the FCC’s mission, we are responsible for determining whether grant of the applications constituting this transaction serves the public interest. That’s why we’re asking for closer review to ensure that this transaction does not anti-competitively raise prices or put jobs in local newsrooms at risk,” said Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel in a Feb. 24 press release announcing the decision. “The additional review will allow us to make a more informed assessment on whether proposed safeguards are sufficient to protect the public interest, and we will take the time needed to address these critical questions.”

The FCC’s decision will have a chilling effect on minority ownership, as this action aims to kill the deal by delaying it past the May 22 deadline by which it must close.

The NAACP New York State Conference issued a strong rebuke to Rosenworcel’s announcement. NY NAACP President Hazel Dukes responded to apparently bigoted perceptions that because of Soo Kim’s Asian heritage, he is not the kind of racial minority being sought to increase media ownership.

“I understand that Chairwoman Rosenworcel has bowed to the pressure of those who accuse Soo Kim of not being the “right type of minority,” wrote Dukes in an open letter to Rosenworcel and the FCC Commissioners March 1. “I am appalled that we still use this type of incendiary language to define a person of color who attempts to enter a particular ‘club’ [of which] they are not traditional members.”

She concludes that the assignment to an FCC administrative judge was intentional to kill the deal.

“This action was deliberate and malicious and only happened because some deemed Soo Kim is considered not to be the ‘right type of minority,’” Dukes writes. “Standard General has not only publicly pledged to invest in local broadcasting and to preserve jobs, but they have also committed to directly impacting our communities to have a voice and to empower community journalism.”

The Rev. Al Sharpton, president of the New York-based National Action Network, was also riled by what appeared to have been a decision based on Asian bias. “Who determines who is the ‘right minority’ and who is the ‘wrong minority’?” Sharpton questioned in a Tweet. He added that Soo Kim’s Standard General and TEGNA would be “a 300 pct increase of minority owned tv stations.”

This disappointing announcement was made by the FCC despite strong support from civil rights leaders and media diversity advocates for the acquisition throughout the year long review process.

The FCC decision follows months of pushing for the transaction. In her letter, Dukes listed a string of her civil rights associates, who publicly supported the acquisition, including Congressional Black Caucus Chairman Steven Horsford, civil rights leaders including the iconic Rev. Jesse Jackson; Rev. Sharpton, Transformative Justice Coalition President Barbara Arnwine, and Dr. Benjamin Chavis, president/CEO of the National Newspaper Publishers Association.

Chavis was among the first to support the acquisition and to explain the benefits of an Asian American taking ownership of TEGNA.

“I know some of you would ask me why I am speaking up and out about other persons of color to own media businesses in America in addition to African American ownership of media businesses. There is, I assert, only one clear answer. If you are, as I am, for equality, equity, and believe in the oneness of all humanity, then we must practice what we preach. This is why I am publicly and forthrightly supporting the efforts and leadership of Soo Kim, founder and managing partner of Standard General. Kim is an effective and outstanding Korean American business leader, and he is on record supporting greater Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) in our nation’s media ownership landscape,” Chavis wrote in an op-ed published in NNPA and other newspapers Dec. 2. “The multimedia publishing and communications industry is a trillion-dollar business sector in America. Yet the disparities and inequities of ownership of media industry businesses by persons of color remains glaringly inequitable.”

Black Star Network host Roland Martin, an avid supporter of Black Media ownership, announced that the deal has now “hit a brick wall.” Interviewing Kim on his You Tube talk show, he asked how it felt to Kim to be assumed “not the right kind of minority?” Kim responded with a quote from former First Lady Michelle Obama, “‘When they go low, I go high.’” He said, “It’s not a great” feeling. Adding that the Black participation in his network would be huge, Kim shows no sign of giving up.

"This deal has taken a long time. We're in our eleventh month of review here. And so, yes, we have made concessions and basically addressed each of the concerns that have been put up," Kim told Martin on the show. "We've actually gone in and said we're willing to address each of these concerns. What I'd hoped from the very beginning is that we'd be treated like everybody else. I would say that maybe that was too much to hope for. But we're still optimistic that we've put together a series of responses to each of the concerns that we've heard."

Rev. Jackson, as president/CEO of the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, sent a letter to the Commission in support of the acquisition.

“After meeting with Soo Kim and upon careful and scrupulous review of his record on diversity and inclusion, my team and I wholeheartedly support the purchase of Tegna,” Jackson wrote. “Soo Kim, being Korean-American, is sensitive to the plight of racial justice, equity and inclusion…It is my strong belief that Soo Kim would be committed to inclusion which leads to growth in the America of our dreams. He will honor the spirit and the law representing the best in American ideals.”

If the deal now fails, the FCC’s decision will no doubt call into question its seriousness about increasing ownership by minority media, one of its stated goals. And the civil rights community will once again feel like their voices are not being heard.

“Enhancing media diversity is a primary objective at the FCC, but it has a lot of work to do,” wrote Barbara Arnwine in an op-ed published in January. “The FCC just reported that Blacks account for only 3% of majority interests in full-power TV stations with Asian Americans at only 1%. Now it has a chance to really show that it cares about this goal as the Standard General transaction would radically enhance minority media ownership of broadcast channels.”

The issue of Black media ownership matters greatly and will continue as a top priority for the civil rights activists. Unrelated to the Standard General/TEGNA acquisition, the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights has, for years, been on top of the issue of diversity in media ownership.

The Leadership Conference concluded in a recent report: “At a time when more people, particularly Black people, are distrustful of the media, diversity in media ownership has become more important than ever for the functioning of our democracy. Diversity in ownership is part of that solution.”

Feb. 20, 2023

New rule could put $9 billion back in consumers’ pockets
By Charlene Crowell

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - Amid still-rising interest rates, most families remain financially challenged to make household needs fit into their budgets. For Black Americans whose wealth amounts to 25 cents for every $1 of white family wealth, according to the St. Louis Federal Reserve, the challenge is especially daunting.

So, it is particularly encouraging to Blacks, and others of modest means for a sitting president to speak to the average person’s concerns in the annual State of the Union Address.

“Junk fees may not matter to the very wealthy, but they matter to most folks in homes like the one I grew up in,” said  President Joe Biden on February 7. “They add up to hundreds of dollars a month…I know how unfair it feels when a company overcharges you and gets away with it.”

“Not anymore.”

Junk fees are hidden and unexpected charges that are often not included in the initial or listed price of a transaction but are added on at the time of the payment.

Many consumers are unaware of how junk fees bloat the costs of a variety of goods and services. As a result, the actual costs consumers pay are much larger than expected or advertised. Prepaid card fees, convenience fees, overdraft fees, and late fees are among the myriad of add-on charges that consumers often learn about after or during transactions.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has a section of its website dedicated to explaining the varying types of junk fees and their respective charges. To learn more about this growing consumer issue, visit  https://www.consumerfinance.gov/rules-policy/junk-fees/. 

Further, as the consumer’s financial cop-on-the beat, the CFPB has begun the rulemaking process to rein in the financial harms caused by a myriad of fees affecting at least 85 percent of consumers, according to a 2019 survey by Consumer Reports.

The proposed CFPB rule change would make exorbitant late fees illegal. Based on the agency’s estimates, the proposal could reduce credit card late fees by as much as $9 billion per year -- even though no additional collection costs are incurred.

“In markets across the economy, junk fees have unfortunately become the norm,” noted Rohit Chopra, CFPB Director in announcing the proposed rule. “These junk fees aren’t subject to the normal forces of competition. They’re often charged for so-called services that a consumer never wanted and are set at levels far beyond the true cost. Junk fees inflate prices and chip away at monthly budgets by obscuring part of the price from comparison shopping, making it difficult for Americans to shop around.”

“When we asked people to submit their comments on and experiences with junk fees, we were inundated with stories from thousands of individuals about being charged fees for things that weren’t in their control, like in the case of surprise overdraft fees,” continued Chopra. “Many Americans believe these fees are just plain wrong.”

The proposed rulemaking is based on earlier CFPB research released last year that found that in only one year, 2020, credit card companies charged $12 billion in late fees alone. Card interest rates generate a separate revenue stream.

Other key findings from this report found that cardholders in majority-Black areas paid more in late fees for each card they held with major credit card issuers in 2019. People in areas with the lowest rates of economic mobility paid nearly $10 more in late fee charges per account compared to people in areas with the highest rates of economic mobility;

While acknowledging the Bureau’s earlier efforts to rein in high-cost overdraft fees, Nadine Chabrier, a Senior Policy Counsel with the Center for Responsible Lending says more must be done to protect consumers from other costly junk fees.

“These charges wreak havoc on household budgets,” said Chabrier. “We applaud President Biden for highlighting their harm… We are encouraged that the consumer bureau announced it will take additional steps, and we urge the bureau to place strong limits on the size and frequency of these fees.”

More support for eliminating these budget-busting fees came from Congresswoman Maxine Waters, the current Ranking Member of the House Financial Services Committee, and its former Chair.

“I was pleased to hear President Biden call out junk fees by name, and double down on the Administration’s commitment to limit hidden fees and surcharges in a number of industries,”

stated Waters on February 8, the day after the State of the Union Address. “[W]e have long helped lead the fight to shine a bright light on these types of harmful junk fees and have advanced legislation to ensure consumers are not nickel and dimed out of savings that could go towards buying a new home or starting a small business.”

“Thanks to the leadership of Director Chopra, the CFPB is helping to advance these efforts to put more money back into consumers’ pockets. I, and consumers across the country, can’t wait for this rule to be finalized as soon as possible”, Waters added.

###

Charlene Crowell is a senior fellow 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..

Largest home appreciation in 30 years helps build family wealth

Nov. 21, 2022
By Charlene Crowell

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - In a year fraught with financial challenges, going home for the holidays will have heightened significance this year for many Black and Latino families.

New research findings reveal that between 2019 and 2021, a period that included COVID-19 pandemic assistance programs, homeownership among Black and Latino families increased.  The increase was due in part to pandemic assistance like suspended student loan payments and extended or enhanced unemployment benefits that changed household budgets. During these same years, financially troubled homeowners who received federal assistance, gained the resources to avoid foreclosure, largely through forbearance programs.

As a result, Black and Latino homeowners shared in the largest equity appreciation in the past three decades. As home equity grows, so does family wealth.

Analyzing the latest data from the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, the Urban Institute, a DC-based nonpartisan research organization, found that Black household homeownership rose 2 percentage points, to 44 percent from 2019-2020., Latino household homeownership rose 2.5 percentage points to 50.6 percent. Both increases surpassed the 1.2 percentage point homeownership rate increase of white households during the same period.

“The Black homeownership rate has experienced a continuous decline since the Great Recession, and Black households have been disproportionately affected by predatory lending practices but

the Black homeownership rate is finally showing gains,” states the Institute’s findings

The largest increases in the number of Black homeowners occurred in Florida, Georgia, and Texas.

“Despite the pandemic’s negative effects on employment, swift government actions, such as forbearance and unemployment benefits, helped Black and Latino households sustain homeownership and helped many enter homeownership and benefit from historically low interest rates,” the Institute authors continued.

“We’re seeing a real spark in Black and Latino homeownership because people — in large part, millennials — were able to save during the pandemic,” Andre Perry, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution,  recently told the Washington Post. “Now whether it’s sustained, that’s a different story. But what you saw in 2021 is a good thing because homeownership creates wealth and other opportunities that benefit entire communities.”

Related findings by the Joint Center for Housing Studies (JCHS) at Harvard University underscore how this small but important rise in homeownership benefitted families of color.

In its annual State of the Nation’s Housing 2022, JCHS reports that despite the economic downturn brought on by the pandemic and the surge in home prices, 2.2 million new homeowners were added between the first quarter of 2020 and the first quarter of 2022, boosting the nation’s total number of homeowner households to 83.4 million.

Despite national growth in homeownership between 2020 and 2022, the Harvard report makes it clear that lingering racial disparities in homeownership limit Blacks and Latinos from achieving large equity gains.

“In 2019, the median net wealth of Black homeowners ($113,100) was just over a third of that of white homeowners ($299,900) and the median net wealth of Hispanic homeowners ($164,800) was still roughly half of white homeowners,” states the report. “At least in part, these disparities reflect consistently lower home valuations in neighborhoods that are predominantly Black or Hispanic.”

Homeownership access is also related to an important market variable: low mortgage interest rates. Over half of outstanding mortgages in the fourth quarter of 2021 had interest rates below 4.0 percent, including 13 percent with rates below 3.0 percent. Lower interest rates translated into consumers qualifying for larger and/or higher-priced homes. Conversely, as these rates have increased in recent months, housing dollars cannot go as far.

Hence it is reasonable to conclude that the array of federal assistance during the pandemic enabled Black and Latino Americans to financially piece together a way forward for their families. From 2020’s Economic Security Act (CARES Act) that allowed borrowers to take forbearances for periods lasting up to 18 months, to extended and enhanced unemployment benefits, to student loan payment suspensions, and more – timely, targeted federal initiatives made measurable progress possible.

“The lessons learned during the pandemic have led to a number of proposals to greatly expand the housing safety net and provide increased support for first-generation homebuyers,” stated Chris Herbert, JCHS Managing Director. “While these measures have yet to be implemented, it is important to continue the policy debate over the best approaches to making housing affordable for all.”

Charlene Crowell is a senior fellow 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..