COMMUNITY REINVESTMENT ACT FOR BLACK & LATINOS
systemic inequity
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In Baltimore, Blacks have a median household income that is 54% of that of Whites. The small Latino community in Baltimore has 70% of the income of Whites.
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Black and Latino communities have been getting the short end of the financial stick leaving their interests unaddressed and voices unheard.
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Systems like "redlining" prevented Black families from financing home purchases by outlining Black neighborhoods in red on government maps. Entire neighborhoods were considered poor credit risks and thus were not eligible for federally-insured mortgages. Black families turned to contract sales and other high-cost, risky financing sources (a single missed payment could mean losing a home).
Sorce: Racial Wealth Divide Initiative, Corporation for Enterprise Development (CFED) — 2017 report by Dedrick Asante-Muhammed, Director
BALTIMORE CITY DEMOGRAPHICS &
THE RACIAL WEALTH GAP
POPULATION
63%
BLACK
28%
WHITE
4%
HISPANIC
2%
ASIAN
3%
OTHER
LIQUID ASSET POVERTY BY RACE
BLACK
67%
LATINO
65%
ASIAN
43%
WHITE
32%
MEDIAN HOUSEHOLD INCOME
$33,801
BLACK
$44,116
LATINO
$50,531
ASIAN
$62,751
WHITE
UNDERSTANDING THE DATA
Although "redlining" no longer officially legislated, Blacks remain isolated more than 100 years later. Black residents make up 63% of Baltimore’s population and do worse than the African American national average on nearly every outcome measure. Whites, on the other hand, constitute 28% of the population and fare better than national averages on most outcomes.Meanwhile, Latinos are underrepresented compared with national demographics – 4.5% of Baltimore’s population. Latinos’ outcomes trend similar to those of Black residents.
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In Baltimore, more than twice as many Black families as Whites live in liquid asset poverty, meaning [Black families] do not have sufficient savings to subsist at the poverty level for three months in the absence of income.
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The homeownership gap, central to the origin and current pervasiveness of the city’s racial inequity, remains substantial, with 42% of Blacks owning their home compared with 60% for Whites. And with a difference of $80,000 in value, median home prices also reflect the long-term effects of Baltimore’s redlining efforts.
THE RACIAL WEALTH GAP WIDNES
The Racial Wealth Divide has Grown over Three Decades
See chart below for the median waelth by race, 1983 and 2016