Accountability of Equity Practices in the Financial Sector

WHEREAS, The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is committed to the pursuit of social justice, equity, and the elimination of racial disparities in all areas of society, including the financial sector; and

WHEREAS, A 2020 study conducted by Hegerty states that racial discrimination and various types of market failure have led to banking and credit deserts in underserved urban and rural communities; and

WHEREAS, A 2020 study conducted by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) reports that unbanked and underbanked rates were higher among lower-income households, less-educated households, Black households, Latino or Hispanic households, American Indian or Alaska Native households, immigrant and migrant households, working-age disabled households, and households with unstable incomes; and

WHEREAS, The FDIC is responsible for federal regulations about racial equity, including the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) of 1977 and the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) of 1975, addressing racial discrimination in banking.

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the NAACP will demand that the FDIC hold financial institutions accountable for violating regulatory equity requirements.

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, the NAACP will survey majority Black and high poverty jurisdictions to identify the number of banks and traditional credit institutions within those jurisdictions or with poverty rates in excess of 50%.

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, the NAACP will challenge federally chartered banks to have local branches within majority Black jurisdictions with poverty rates in excess of 50%.

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED, the NAACP will work with the U.S. Treasury, FDIC, Inclusive, the African-American Alliance on MDI (minority depository institutions), Opportunity Finance Network, and others to foster the growth of CDFI (community development financial institutions) and MDI and other initiatives that prioritize investments in low-income census tracts, underserved and underbanked communities, Black and Brown communities, and historically redlined, and racially oppressed communities.