Mark Winston Griffith

Celebrating the CRA’s 30th birthday with a Question

A conference at NY Law School today will celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of the Community Reinvestment Act, the landmark legislation that helped frame the notion that banks have an obligation to invest in low-income areas and neighborhoods of color. For the activists, policy makers and financial service providers who are scheduled to speak, the main charge for those attending the conference will be to confront the question of how relevant the Community Reinvestment Act is to those involved in community change and development.

There used to be a day when community reinvestment crusaders routinely flew the CRA banner, marching on banks and demanding that they function as better corporate citizens. But over the years, the financial services landscape has changed dramatically since 1977 and community disinvestment is largely driven by fringe financial service providers and non-depository financial institutions, - institutions that are not subject to CRA scrutiny or pressures. Today you are hard pressed to find a community-based organization that invokes the CRA or uses it as leverage in a community organizing campaign.

One of the questions that emerges when you consider CRA now is, can those of us involved in economic justice work envision a brave new world where Payday lenders, Rent to Own stores, Refund Anticipation Loan-making tax preparers, Subprime lenders and others of their ilk have some incentive to help neighborhoods build assets?

It's a huge question that community reinvestment advocates have, for the most part, failed to confront head on. Meanwhile neighborhoods are more defenseless and vulnerable in the face of financial institutions than they were thirty years ago. Let's hope that out of the celebration of the CRA can come a new paradigm for protecting community wealth.

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Posted at 8:23 AM, Oct 12, 2007 in Community Development
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