The short term and immediate goals of United Affirmative action Development Corp/ UAAD is to seek financial assistance for the Katrina victims on the Gulf Coast, utilizing the provisions of the COMMUNITY RE-INVESTMENT Act of 1977, CRA

A Civil Right Activist once asked me how I was going to accomplish my goals when Politicians openly relate that they can buy all the votes needed in the Black community for a dollar a vote by giving the NEGRO Preacher one dollar for each member in his church.  By the same token it appears most of the time that financial institutions can get off cheaper. 

JPMorgan Chase Bank made a commitment to African American community that they would pay REPARATION to Louisiana Negroes a total amount of $5Million dollars,

The 1977 Community Reinvestment Act was intended to end redlining, a practice in which banks in effect walled off many inner-city neighborhoods from mortgage loans. But some GOP lawmakers say it has outlived its purpose and is being used inappropriately by ACORN to shake down banks for money. They want to repeal the law, scale it back or at least block a Democratic proposal to expand it………….

TO BE EQUAL  5/10/99

Banking On Equal Opportunity By Hugh B. PricePresident National Urban League Most people who live outside of Washington D.C. have probably never heard of the Community Reinvestment Act.  Yet, though unsung, the CRA is one of the most important pieces of civil rights legislation Congress has ever passed.  That’s why; as Congress considers legislation that would remake the financial services industry – allowing banks, investment firms, and insurance companies to merge and compete – it must make sure that the goals of the original Community Reinvestment Act are protected and furthered.  For the evidence is clear:The CRA has been extremely successful in making capital for business development and for home ownership available in low-and moderate-income urban neighborhoods and rural communities.  That success has significantly aided the revitalization of hundreds of low-income urban neighborhoods and rural communities.  And that success has made it possible for thousands upon thousands of individuals to improve their economic circumstances and their “stake” in American society.  In other words, the CRA has helped enhance all Americans’ including African Americans’, access to economic opportunity, which is the cornerstone of communities’, individuals’ and groups’ ability to meaningfully participate in American society.  Congress pass the Community Reinvestment Act in 1977 in response to clear evidence of the noxious effects of “redlining”-the systematic refusal of lenders to provide loans to businesses, homeowners and prospective home buyers in particular neighborhoods, especially those which were predominantly Black or Hispanic.  The act required federally - insured banks to document their efforts to invest in home ownership and business development in poor communities.  In its early years, the act had a modest impact. But during the 1990s the law’s positive reach has been extraordinary, as numerous measurements prove.  Undoubtedly, the unprecedented period of prosperity the country has enjoyed during the decade has had something to do with that. So, undoubtedly, has the increased sophistication of community housing groups in using the law, and the increased pressure of federal regulators making their evaluations of banks’ lending performances public.  But it’s also true that the benefits of the Community Reinvestment Act to society have become too evident to ignore.  As many observers have noted, homeownership – in which Blacks and Hispanics have always lagged significantly behind whites – is the critical building bloc that enables individuals and families to escape poverty and achieve social mobility. The CRA is just such an asset-building program.  Writing in the National Urban League publication, The State of Black America 1998, scholars Melvin L. Oliver and Thomas N. Shapiro, declared, “While (governmental) programs providing income for consumption are essential, programs for the accumulation of assets invest in the ability of families to become self-reliant and to support their communities by stimulating education, job mobility, home ownership, entrepreneurship, and equity.   ’It’s not just city dwellers or suburbanites who benefit, either. In 1997 banks and thrifts made $11 billion in loans to small farmers for operating expenses, livestock and real estate purchases.CRA is also profitable for the banks.
Federal Reserve Board chairman Anal Greenspan has stated that there’s “little or no evidence that banks’ safety and soundness have been compromised by CRA lending.”  Richard Rosenberg, former chairman and CEO of Bank America Corporation, is more assertive. “Banks that learn how to meet (community reinvestment) demand profitably,” he said, “and integrate it into their business lines, will gain a tremendous competitive advantage.”  Thus, efforts to cut the provisions of the act enabling the public to see and comment on bank lending policies in their communities; or to allow the shift of many financial assets out of banks and thrifts into other financial institutions not covered by CRA; or to exempt small rural banks from CRA rules go against the original spirit of the act – and the needs of millions of Americans.            Insuring equal economic opportunity for Americans in a capitalist society requires insuring equal access to capital. Congress should add to, not detract from, the Community Reinvestment Act’s ability to meet its goals, That’s an investment that would benefit all of American society.
19 TBE 5/10/99 TO BE EQUAL  120 Wall Street, NY, NY 10005 
                                       
"Banking while Black " hurts homeowners 
This article appeared in USA Today; 2006, this is an edited version___________________ African-Americans and Hispanic consumers face a double whammy. First, they are less likely than whites to own their homes. According to the Survey of Consumer Finance, 47% of African-Americans and Hispanics are homeowners, compared with 74% of whites. But even when African-Americans and Hispanics own their homes, they face lending discrimination when they refinance.
This week, the National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC) released a report on credit discrimination with troubling findings. Consumers living in areas with more minority residents are more likely to have mortgages with interest rates higher than "prevailing and competitive" rates. Some get these sub-prime be a cause they have poor credit. But far too frequently, the problem is lending discrimination. Often, African-Americans, Hispanics and in some cases, elderly buyers who qualify for market-rate loans are steered to high-cost loans. This is especially true when they live in heavily black or elderly areas.
In response to racial profiling on highways, some activists coined the term "driving while black". NCRC president John Taylor does them one better when he notes that "banking while black or elderly means that most are most likely to get gouged by high interest rates and fees." NCRC says the broken credit system can be fixed if the Federal Reserve Bank increases its oversight on anti-discrimination and fair lending laws, and if existing laws are better enforced. Because incomes were fairly stagnant in 2002, much of Americans' consumer spending has been financed by credit cards and home-equity credit. Too many African-Americans and seniors who are helping to keep the economy afloat are paying extraordinarily high fees to do so. That’s a lump of coal in a Christmas stocking, an injustice that needs to be rectified.
Commentary by Julianne Malveaux posted by Walter @ 5:46 PM 2 comments  

On 10/23/06   UAAD and its AFFILIATES Requested a delay of the proposed merger of Regions Bank and AmSouth Bank pending a CONGRESSIONAL HEARING.
We are asking community and civil rights organizations to assist in stopping this merger.  This process will create circumstances whereby these banks will not negotiate in good faith CRA agreements with community organizations as required under the Civil Rights Legislation, the COMMUNITY RE-INVESTMENT ACT of 1977.

http://www.unitedaffirmativeactiondevelopment.com/id34.html http://www.unitedaffirmativeactiondevelopment.com/id28.html

http://www.unitedaffirmativeactiondevelopment.com/id29.html