WEBVTT - Civic Cipher 043022 Wells Fargo Sued for Discriminatory Loan Practices (Part 2) 0:00:00.320 --> 0:00:00.920 And now. 0:00:02.920 --> 0:00:10.559 Watching my mic back, you're like that striking water head, 0:00:10.600 --> 0:00:13.640 borders behind him and the borders. 0:00:13.840 --> 0:00:18.200 So if you're just tuning into City Soccer, I'm your host, Ramses. 0:00:17.920 --> 0:00:23.079 Job, you know, Ramses on our return to the show, 0:00:24.000 --> 0:00:27.880 I'm never as lighthearted as when we started. I'm just 0:00:27.960 --> 0:00:29.640 q ward at this point, you know, when the show 0:00:29.680 --> 0:00:32.480 comes on, I try to give a little about the time. 0:00:32.520 --> 0:00:35.279 When we get here, I'm so annoyed and fed up 0:00:35.760 --> 0:00:39.200 that I almost just say yeah, I'm hi, Hi people, 0:00:39.320 --> 0:00:39.880 how you doing. 0:00:40.440 --> 0:00:43.279 We'll tell you that you should stick around. We still 0:00:43.280 --> 0:00:45.640 got a lot more showing story for you. When we 0:00:45.680 --> 0:00:50.240 were talking about Wells Fargo and they're discriminatory loan practices 0:00:50.320 --> 0:00:53.800 and now they're killing black opportunity a follow up to 0:00:54.800 --> 0:00:56.720 I think this will be our third segment where we're 0:00:56.760 --> 0:01:01.000 talking about black Belt and for the lack there and 0:01:01.440 --> 0:01:05.280 some of the culprits. And in this episode we're going 0:01:05.360 --> 0:01:08.880 to be you know, talking about against some discriminatory loan 0:01:08.920 --> 0:01:13.280 practices killing black opportunity from someone who is not a 0:01:13.280 --> 0:01:13.920 first time. 0:01:13.720 --> 0:01:16.880 Offender Wells Fargo, let me hold some yeah exactly. 0:01:16.959 --> 0:01:20.959 So first, however, we're going to talk about becoming a better. Ally, 0:01:21.640 --> 0:01:24.040 I like this part of the show because I think 0:01:24.040 --> 0:01:25.880 this is why everyone listens. You know, you want to 0:01:25.959 --> 0:01:28.920 learn how to support your black and your brown brothers 0:01:28.959 --> 0:01:32.400 and sisters, and you know, marginalize peoples across the board. 0:01:32.440 --> 0:01:35.080 And I think that having sorts of conversations really in powerful. 0:01:35.080 --> 0:01:36.840 At least that's what I hear. I agree, you know 0:01:37.000 --> 0:01:38.880 in my travels, like, oh my gosh, I didn't know that. 0:01:39.280 --> 0:01:43.199 So they were going to talk about Harvard. Harvard created 0:01:43.200 --> 0:01:46.600 a one hundred million dollars slavery reparation fund. The story 0:01:46.600 --> 0:01:51.160 comes from Yahoo, so Instagram. Harvard was founded in Cambridge, Massachusetts, 0:01:51.160 --> 0:01:53.400 in sixteen thirty six, and got a one hundred page 0:01:53.440 --> 0:01:56.160 report that made several recommendations about how this one hundred 0:01:56.160 --> 0:01:58.440 million dollars should be spent, including the improvement of educational 0:01:58.480 --> 0:02:03.920 opportunities for descendants descendant communities, honoring enslaved people through memorials 0:02:03.960 --> 0:02:06.680 and research, and creating partnerships with black colleges and university. 0:02:06.880 --> 0:02:10.519 I like that it also recommended identifying supporting directive to 0:02:10.639 --> 0:02:13.640 descendants in Black and Native American enslaved individuals who labored 0:02:13.720 --> 0:02:18.359 on Harvard's campus and who were enslaved by previous Harvard leaders. 0:02:18.400 --> 0:02:21.040 I own to underlying Native American because a lot of 0:02:21.080 --> 0:02:24.440 times our brothers, Native brothers get left out of these conversations. 0:02:24.639 --> 0:02:28.280 So I'm glad that Harvard is it's identifying them as well. 0:02:29.639 --> 0:02:32.400 The report found that Harvard's staff, including four presidents and 0:02:32.440 --> 0:02:35.280 slave more than seventy individuals until slavery was outlawed in 0:02:35.400 --> 0:02:37.720 state in seventeen eighty three. I mean, as a state 0:02:37.800 --> 0:02:40.799 had to outlaw it, Harvard, the enlightened institution, didn't trink 0:02:40.800 --> 0:02:43.400 it upon themselves to do so. The report also found 0:02:43.440 --> 0:02:46.920 that the university quote benefited from extensive financial ties to slavery, 0:02:47.000 --> 0:02:51.440 including donations from slave traders. It's said that from the 0:02:51.480 --> 0:02:54.239 mid nineteenth century welleson the twentieth century, Harvard presidents and 0:02:54.320 --> 0:02:59.000 prominent professors promoted race science and eugenics. Eugenics sign end 0:02:59.080 --> 0:03:03.040 quote conduct. I did abusive research, including the photographing of 0:03:03.240 --> 0:03:09.240 enslaved and subjugated human beings. Harbard's subjugated human beings. That's 0:03:09.280 --> 0:03:12.359 the tough. Harvard's announcement comes as US institutions grappling with 0:03:12.400 --> 0:03:14.840 how to make amends for their role in slavery. Last year, 0:03:15.200 --> 0:03:18.280 the leaders of the Jesuit Conference of increased vouch to 0:03:18.320 --> 0:03:21.200 raise one hundred million dollars to benefits the descendent of slaves. 0:03:21.360 --> 0:03:26.080 It wants. Oh all right, now moving on. 0:03:28.040 --> 0:03:30.160 One hundred million dollars is not nothing, by the way, 0:03:30.919 --> 0:03:32.120 I just wanted to say that out loud. 0:03:32.760 --> 0:03:37.600 Yes, everybody needs to do that very individual but these 0:03:37.840 --> 0:03:41.960 institutions follow their lead. Yeah, that's how you become a 0:03:42.040 --> 0:03:47.040 better ally. So this comes to us from Black enterprise. 0:03:48.960 --> 0:03:53.560 It's a I think it's primarily a financial publication. 0:03:54.680 --> 0:03:56.480 And business and finance. 0:03:56.800 --> 0:04:00.360 Yeah, so we don't pull from this very odd often, 0:04:01.160 --> 0:04:07.680 but lately we've been realizing how important money is. You 0:04:07.800 --> 0:04:11.360 always knew that, Cue. You always have talked about capitalism, 0:04:11.480 --> 0:04:13.200 and I've always kind of echoed, but you said that 0:04:13.280 --> 0:04:17.400 you obviously have a deeper education with respect to capitalism, 0:04:17.440 --> 0:04:20.480 and it's the invisible forces that come into play with 0:04:21.440 --> 0:04:26.960 that economic system in place. I'm just a great audience 0:04:27.040 --> 0:04:29.920 for you. But recently we've had to come to terms 0:04:29.960 --> 0:04:35.840 with how finance as well, you know, and so forth, 0:04:36.080 --> 0:04:41.400 you know, create opportunities, mobility or on the other end 0:04:41.440 --> 0:04:47.040 of the spectrum, restrict, stagnate, stagnate or otherwise limit your 0:04:47.120 --> 0:04:52.159 opportunities to live a full life relative to the people around. 0:04:52.520 --> 0:04:55.520 If everybody's poor, nobody knows what poor is. Everybody's rich, 0:04:55.600 --> 0:04:59.000 nobody knows what poor is, you know. But if there 0:04:59.040 --> 0:05:01.880 are poor people and people driving through their neighborhoods collecting 0:05:01.880 --> 0:05:04.320 and drive it back out, and what you have is 0:05:04.360 --> 0:05:09.640 a condition that causes people to realize something's wrong with 0:05:09.839 --> 0:05:12.960 what I'm dealing with, and they take advantage of whatever 0:05:13.040 --> 0:05:15.880 opportunities there are to try to pursue a better life 0:05:15.880 --> 0:05:19.080 for themselves. As in human nature, it's true across the 0:05:19.200 --> 0:05:22.400 board for all people of all colors and all places 0:05:22.480 --> 0:05:25.920 in every corner of the planet. Right, we just kind 0:05:25.920 --> 0:05:27.760 of have to bear the front of it because we 0:05:28.000 --> 0:05:32.800 black folks in this country have been on the receiving 0:05:33.080 --> 0:05:44.400 end of harmful racist legislation and harmful practices not just 0:05:44.480 --> 0:05:49.360 by the government, but by local institutions and by individuals. 0:05:50.160 --> 0:05:54.680 For a long time, it was perfectly legal to discriminate 0:05:54.760 --> 0:05:57.520 against people and not serve people. And you know, you 0:05:57.960 --> 0:06:00.280 have to give these people need dignity if you if 0:06:00.320 --> 0:06:04.680 you choose not to. And now in twenty twenty two, 0:06:05.160 --> 0:06:07.960 that civic cipher exists. And now after a year and 0:06:08.000 --> 0:06:12.279 a half of doing the show. Money is the thing 0:06:12.360 --> 0:06:15.680 we were happy to do. I'm not a munchy, humbly person. 0:06:17.120 --> 0:06:21.200 I've been very blessed, but I do recognize that it's 0:06:21.279 --> 0:06:24.800 a very important deity and it is time for us 0:06:24.839 --> 0:06:28.480 to pay out. So again, Civil rights attorney Bank Crump 0:06:28.480 --> 0:06:31.920 says Wells Fargo discriminates. Wells Fargo's discriminatory loan practices are 0:06:31.960 --> 0:06:36.440 killing black opportunity. Right at the presser, Crump, along with 0:06:36.800 --> 0:06:41.919 co counsel Lisa Friedman and Suzanne bish urged Wells Fargo's 0:06:41.920 --> 0:06:45.080 shareholders to approve emotion by the SEIU, one of the 0:06:45.080 --> 0:06:48.679 country's largest labor unions, to conduct an independent racial equity 0:06:48.720 --> 0:06:52.800 audit on the bank. Crump also urged other politicians to 0:06:52.960 --> 0:06:56.080 follow the lead of New York Mayor Eric Adams and 0:06:56.200 --> 0:06:59.360 stop investing with Wells Fargo Bank. Now I'm going to 0:06:59.360 --> 0:07:04.040 stop parents the story, and for those that do, listen 0:07:04.120 --> 0:07:11.360 to my daily podcast on the IRT media app called 0:07:11.560 --> 0:07:14.720 the Black Information Network and Daily Podcast, you might have 0:07:14.800 --> 0:07:19.360 heard this story. There's a very good friend of mine 0:07:19.760 --> 0:07:23.240 and Ques who told us this story, and we both 0:07:23.280 --> 0:07:27.480 believe it to be true. There's a gentleman who lives 0:07:28.080 --> 0:07:29.440 where we live in Arizona. 0:07:30.320 --> 0:07:30.880 His name is. 0:07:31.000 --> 0:07:35.640 Arturo's a Hispanic name comes from Tucson, who are very 0:07:35.680 --> 0:07:39.920 poor at floor is in his house. Our party, as 0:07:39.960 --> 0:07:43.920 he is known, is a billionaire. That's a billionaire. What 0:07:43.960 --> 0:07:48.320 would be He owns the Anaheim Angels. He owns under 0:07:48.440 --> 0:07:54.040 armor by himself, and he owns I think huge stakes 0:07:54.080 --> 0:07:55.800 in like carvan and a bunch of others. Put a 0:07:55.840 --> 0:07:59.840 businessman that is start in marketing outdoor billboards and soul. 0:08:00.160 --> 0:08:01.720 I had to do case study on him. When I 0:08:01.840 --> 0:08:05.320 was in college. My undergrads named Mark, so I know 0:08:05.440 --> 0:08:11.600 this name no moreno in the nineties, I believe is 0:08:11.640 --> 0:08:13.760 how the story King to us went into a Wells 0:08:13.800 --> 0:08:19.400 Fargo bank and the approach to teller looking as he 0:08:19.520 --> 0:08:25.240 looks a human being whose ancestry is tied to Mexico. Right, 0:08:25.760 --> 0:08:29.720 no great offense there, but to some people that is 0:08:29.760 --> 0:08:30.680 an offensive look. 0:08:30.800 --> 0:08:32.520 I was going to say that there should be no 0:08:32.640 --> 0:08:34.240 offense there, but remember where we are. 0:08:34.840 --> 0:08:41.520 But to have such a high dollar amount on your check, 0:08:43.320 --> 0:08:45.080 so I'm not sure how this part of the story 0:08:45.120 --> 0:08:46.520 also don't holp me to it. But he went into 0:08:46.559 --> 0:08:48.880 the bank and he either attempts to cash or deposit 0:08:49.080 --> 0:08:53.760 or something like that into one of these accounts. The 0:08:53.920 --> 0:09:00.680 teller did not believe him and believed that two perhaps 0:09:00.800 --> 0:09:06.400 be fraudulate, which by itself isn't the worst offense. But 0:09:07.200 --> 0:09:10.440 it was after this, after the back and forth between 0:09:10.640 --> 0:09:13.760 Arti and the teller, when Arti was made to sit 0:09:13.880 --> 0:09:18.920 and wait while they investigated, and they embarrassed him. And 0:09:19.160 --> 0:09:21.640 you know, obviously that's a very especially me to do 0:09:21.760 --> 0:09:28.280 business with the financial institution that it's good. So Artis says, 0:09:28.320 --> 0:09:30.640 you know what n Riches is in. You know what, 0:09:31.080 --> 0:09:33.040 I'll tell you what, this doesn't even need to be 0:09:33.120 --> 0:09:36.079 a problem. I'll just withdraw all my money. You don't 0:09:36.120 --> 0:09:39.800 even have to worry about this check. Oh no, not 0:09:39.960 --> 0:09:44.920 from that one account to all my accounts. Right, and 0:09:45.000 --> 0:09:48.640 as it turns out, we'll stargo bank. That branch at 0:09:48.720 --> 0:09:52.760 least didn't have enough money to fund his withdrawal because 0:09:52.800 --> 0:09:55.520 I believe his holdings with the bank at the time 0:09:55.640 --> 0:09:57.520 or someone in the neighborhood of this is the way 0:09:57.559 --> 0:10:00.439 the story was told, someone in the neighborhood for hun dollars. 0:10:02.000 --> 0:10:06.040 So what happens is because they couldn't honor his request, 0:10:07.240 --> 0:10:10.240 a powerful man well I mean just get my lawyer 0:10:10.360 --> 0:10:12.880 was involved, you know, since you wanted to make it 0:10:12.960 --> 0:10:15.400 into that. We'll show you what power looks like. I'll 0:10:15.400 --> 0:10:17.520 show you how wrong you are. I love the sort 0:10:17.600 --> 0:10:22.960 o way. The people at the branch end up having 0:10:23.000 --> 0:10:25.800 to get a hold of the CEO of Wells Fargo. 0:10:26.320 --> 0:10:29.800 CEO well Spargo had to fly on a private jet 0:10:30.640 --> 0:10:35.000 immediately to Arizona to talk to Riti Molno face to 0:10:35.120 --> 0:10:39.240 face because he knew if Ardi pulled out four hundred 0:10:39.320 --> 0:10:43.200 million dollars from well Spargo that the stock price would 0:10:43.280 --> 0:10:46.600 drop and they could not afford that at that time. 0:10:46.720 --> 0:10:49.319 You know, and this is well Spargo, is that the 0:10:49.360 --> 0:10:52.480 burnie made off one or I forget what it was. 0:10:52.520 --> 0:10:54.560 And a few years ago they were gotten into trouble 0:10:54.640 --> 0:10:57.400 for doing like some sort of practice. They had to 0:10:57.440 --> 0:11:00.800 settle out of court front of ours post all happenings 0:11:00.800 --> 0:11:04.120 they had so like a classics of lawsuit. Recently, we'll 0:11:04.120 --> 0:11:07.160 start of took my house during the a procession. Right, 0:11:07.480 --> 0:11:08.920 I gave him all their money, he still took my 0:11:08.960 --> 0:11:10.679 house because they had the power to do it even 0:11:10.720 --> 0:11:12.440 though they were paid. This is a sort of right. 0:11:13.640 --> 0:11:16.520 When the CEO comes out has a conversation with ARTI 0:11:16.600 --> 0:11:20.640 what does already say? It says, all right, I'll keep 0:11:20.720 --> 0:11:26.920 doing business with you. These are my terms. We're going 0:11:26.960 --> 0:11:32.120 to hire more Hispanic people in your branches. We're gonna 0:11:32.120 --> 0:11:35.040 put a Spanish people in your advertisements. In what else part, 0:11:36.320 --> 0:11:39.120 We're gonna make sure that there's some representation, there's some inclusion. 0:11:39.679 --> 0:11:44.079 Going to change this culture, because what I experienced was wrong. 0:11:45.280 --> 0:11:48.000 If you want to keep my business, then you're going 0:11:48.080 --> 0:11:51.760 to have to do right, not by me, by everyone. 0:11:53.320 --> 0:11:56.800 So obviously already, after hearing stories, a big hero of 0:11:56.880 --> 0:11:58.800 mindse I like people that stand up for other people. 0:12:00.000 --> 0:12:02.439 I think that another part of this is that you 0:12:02.640 --> 0:12:13.160 realize how institutions like this hold a lot of power 0:12:13.440 --> 0:12:18.439 over your personal well being and the mobility to have 0:12:18.559 --> 0:12:21.439 in society if they just don't like you. You know, 0:12:21.559 --> 0:12:24.280 because already has four hundred million dollars, but I'm still 0:12:24.280 --> 0:12:26.360 working on that figure. You know, a lot of us 0:12:26.440 --> 0:12:29.240 are a lot of us listening, and even with four 0:12:29.320 --> 0:12:32.559 hundred million dollars still they still had to deal with that. 0:12:33.760 --> 0:12:40.480 So I'll continue. The pressor also included black homeowners who 0:12:40.600 --> 0:12:44.599 say they're victims of Wells Fargo's discriminatory bank practices and 0:12:44.720 --> 0:12:48.720 have joined the class action lawsuit against the bank. Again 0:12:50.720 --> 0:12:53.240 just a brief story, but and I don't know that 0:12:53.400 --> 0:12:57.760 this was a racist base thing. But I do realize 0:12:57.800 --> 0:12:59.839 that I know for a fact that I checked that 0:13:00.000 --> 0:13:01.520 I was a black home owner when I applied for 0:13:01.559 --> 0:13:03.079 that loan, because I was proud of that fact that 0:13:03.160 --> 0:13:05.400 I wanted to contribute to that statistic. So if they 0:13:05.440 --> 0:13:07.720 wanted to find that out, they could. But I don't 0:13:07.760 --> 0:13:09.640 know that that factored into it. But I do remember 0:13:09.679 --> 0:13:11.840 this bank giving them all the money that they asked 0:13:11.840 --> 0:13:13.319 for to get caught up on my loan because I 0:13:13.320 --> 0:13:16.040 fell behind. Annoyed thing was everyone they had all the 0:13:16.120 --> 0:13:17.760 money they needed, that filled out all the people where 0:13:17.760 --> 0:13:19.679 could be was fun. And they sent the check back 0:13:19.720 --> 0:13:21.400 to me and said, you know what, instead, we'll just 0:13:21.480 --> 0:13:25.040 take the house. And as it turned out, they could 0:13:25.080 --> 0:13:27.360 get more money selling the house than they could keeping 0:13:27.400 --> 0:13:29.400 me as a customer, and so I lost my house, 0:13:30.080 --> 0:13:32.960 had a foreclosure, had the Fortunately I made it out 0:13:33.000 --> 0:13:36.080 of that obviously during the day, well compared to them. 0:13:39.040 --> 0:13:44.000 But you know, these sorts of practices, once you add 0:13:44.040 --> 0:13:46.000 a little bit of like a racist component, or you 0:13:46.080 --> 0:13:49.360 see it happening to one group of people more than 0:13:50.280 --> 0:13:53.800 other groups of people. You start seeing a pattern and 0:13:54.200 --> 0:13:57.679 it becomes one of those things that reinforces on a 0:13:57.720 --> 0:14:01.960 deep psychological level how this world and how this country 0:14:02.000 --> 0:14:04.400 feels to us. I mentioned before that I used to 0:14:04.480 --> 0:14:07.600 work at a place called Brown and Brown Nissan in Arizona, 0:14:08.440 --> 0:14:11.760 and I was probably seventeen eighteen years old working there 0:14:11.800 --> 0:14:15.640 selling next eras and centers and you know all those cars, 0:14:15.760 --> 0:14:20.920 right maximums and whatnot. Cool people, Yeah, you know, But 0:14:21.520 --> 0:14:28.560 I found out that the Nissan Corporation was lending money 0:14:28.600 --> 0:14:31.440 to black people, are charging higher interest rates across the 0:14:31.520 --> 0:14:34.360 board to the court, they had to settle and wit 0:14:34.480 --> 0:14:37.560 longdoing and settle and pay to pay for that. And 0:14:38.080 --> 0:14:41.080 what I took from that is that I, being a 0:14:41.120 --> 0:14:46.560 part of that machine was actually getting people in black 0:14:46.640 --> 0:14:49.920 people that would come and be so excited to get 0:14:49.960 --> 0:14:52.440 their new centers. Man. I was because you know, I've 0:14:52.440 --> 0:14:54.080 always been a car bess. I've been into like more 0:14:54.120 --> 0:14:56.800 fancy cars or whatever. But there's some peoples they have 0:14:56.880 --> 0:14:59.480 a new car that doesn't break down. They're elated over 0:14:59.560 --> 0:15:02.640 the movie. And for some people, that's for me, that's 0:15:03.000 --> 0:15:04.600 as long as I'm happy, and I my babies are 0:15:04.600 --> 0:15:08.480 staying good. Right, these people it's like the biggest day 0:15:08.520 --> 0:15:11.080 of their life, and it was soured. And I was 0:15:11.160 --> 0:15:13.440 happy for having helped them get the right colored car, 0:15:13.600 --> 0:15:16.880 the right features, or just getting a car and working 0:15:16.960 --> 0:15:18.840 extra hard and staying with people helping them with their 0:15:18.840 --> 0:15:20.880 credit over months, all that sort of stuff. They finally 0:15:20.920 --> 0:15:23.840 got their car, and then to know that those black 0:15:23.920 --> 0:15:27.200 folks were overcharged and I was the person that, you know, 0:15:27.240 --> 0:15:28.600 I got a commission off of that, so I was 0:15:28.640 --> 0:15:30.800 a part of trying to sell the car toon. I 0:15:30.880 --> 0:15:36.760 felt taking advantage unused, but the lasting impression was for 0:15:36.880 --> 0:15:41.400 me at least, why did they hate us? Right? So 0:15:41.440 --> 0:15:43.200 when I look at this well Stargos thing, I'm like, 0:15:43.880 --> 0:15:47.680 why did they hate us? What do we do? There's 0:15:47.720 --> 0:15:49.560 no way to not pay. They either pay or they 0:15:49.640 --> 0:15:50.120 take the house. 0:15:51.160 --> 0:15:54.160 The interesting thing is pointing out those trends, though, right 0:15:54.200 --> 0:15:56.600 when you have the data that supports the argument almost 0:15:56.760 --> 0:16:01.160 indefinitely right to stretch it out for as much time 0:16:01.240 --> 0:16:04.400 as you like, scale it however you'd like. It points 0:16:04.440 --> 0:16:09.400 to very very obvious discriminatory lending. And you know, pointing 0:16:09.440 --> 0:16:12.760 those things out makes you the person that you're the 0:16:12.840 --> 0:16:15.480 one made to feel uncomfortable by pointing out that these 0:16:15.560 --> 0:16:18.880 things exist. You almost have to put on white gloves 0:16:18.880 --> 0:16:21.120 and be very delicate about how you say these things 0:16:21.160 --> 0:16:24.440 out loud to not offend the person that's doing the 0:16:24.560 --> 0:16:29.600 oppressive you know, prejudice, kind of awful things. You know, 0:16:29.640 --> 0:16:31.760 how gear you shine that light at me? I would 0:16:32.040 --> 0:16:33.800 I would never do that. I'm far too decent a 0:16:33.880 --> 0:16:36.480 person for that. Except I have all of the information 0:16:36.560 --> 0:16:38.880 and the data that proves that that's not the case. 0:16:40.280 --> 0:16:46.640 Set us, So all right, I'll continue. The class action 0:16:46.760 --> 0:16:49.840 suit was filed by Aaron Braxton in March twenty twenty. Imagine, well, 0:16:49.880 --> 0:16:54.360 Spargo's systematically discriminated against black homeowners and it's evaluation and 0:16:54.440 --> 0:16:59.400 refinancing applications. That's sort of what I get. A Bloomberg 0:16:59.440 --> 0:17:02.160 News invest detigation backs up the claim, finding that the 0:17:02.280 --> 0:17:06.119 bank approved black homeowners seeking to refinance mortgages during the 0:17:06.200 --> 0:17:09.639 pandemic at a much more rate than white homeowners forty 0:17:09.680 --> 0:17:17.640 seven percent to seventy two percent. Again, they approved black 0:17:17.720 --> 0:17:20.840 homeowners at forty seven percent and white home owners at 0:17:20.880 --> 0:17:24.800 seventy two percent. Additionally, the bank has paid out millions 0:17:24.840 --> 0:17:28.760 in racial discrimination claims made by workers and customers. In 0:17:28.840 --> 0:17:32.080 twenty twelve, the Justice Department ordered the bank to pay 0:17:32.119 --> 0:17:35.679 one hundred and seventy five million after charging African American 0:17:35.760 --> 0:17:39.600 and Hispanic homeowners higher fees and improperly placing them in 0:17:39.720 --> 0:17:43.240 subprime loans. In twenty eighteen, Wells Fargo was accused of 0:17:43.320 --> 0:17:45.800 praying on black and Latino homeowners. I think that was 0:17:45.840 --> 0:17:48.800 the case that I was talking about, but that one 0:17:48.800 --> 0:17:51.040 doesn't say it went to court. I'm so sorry. I 0:17:51.160 --> 0:17:53.280 didn't know that I would remember that, so that's why 0:17:53.280 --> 0:17:55.600 I'm not prepared to articulate it. But this might have 0:17:55.680 --> 0:17:59.119 been somewhere between twenty sixteen and twenty eighteen. Wells Fargo 0:17:59.720 --> 0:18:03.760 had to beat crow because they were super duper wrong, 0:18:04.000 --> 0:18:06.080 and if you just look up whatever happened at that time, 0:18:06.119 --> 0:18:12.440 you'll find all. Right now, we would not be doing 0:18:12.520 --> 0:18:16.920 our job if we didn't get in a word from 0:18:17.000 --> 0:18:23.240 Wells Fargo. So we will take a moment to share 0:18:23.320 --> 0:18:28.520 the words of Wells Fargo' spokeswoman Jennifer len Getting. She 0:18:28.600 --> 0:18:32.560 shared this with Black Enterprise again the source of our researcher, 0:18:34.720 --> 0:18:37.240 and she responded to the press conference saying, quote, we 0:18:37.280 --> 0:18:40.800 are deeply disturbed by allegations of discrimination that we believe 0:18:40.880 --> 0:18:44.000 do not stand up discrutiny. We're confident that we follow 0:18:44.440 --> 0:18:48.359 relevant government sponsored enterprise guidelines and our decision making, and 0:18:48.440 --> 0:18:52.040 that our underwriting practices are consistently applied regardless of a 0:18:52.119 --> 0:18:56.280 customer's race or ethnicity. These unfounded attacks on Wells Fargo's 0:18:56.280 --> 0:18:59.000 stand and start contract to the company's significant and long 0:18:59.119 --> 0:19:04.200 term commitment closing the minority homeownership gap, Langan said. She 0:19:04.320 --> 0:19:06.959 goes on, in twenty twenty, Wells Fargo was the largest 0:19:07.040 --> 0:19:10.080 bank lender for home mortgages to black families, and this 0:19:10.240 --> 0:19:13.240 is consistent with our performance over the last decade from 0:19:13.280 --> 0:19:16.800 twenty eleven to twenty, in which the company helped as 0:19:16.880 --> 0:19:20.280 many black families purchase homes as the next three largest 0:19:20.359 --> 0:19:32.800 bank lenders combined. Okay, so let's let's she said that. Okay, 0:19:33.720 --> 0:19:39.240 and sure, but we were talking about Fox News Earth, 0:19:39.640 --> 0:19:48.680 so let's try to dissect this language. Okay, I'm not 0:19:48.760 --> 0:19:54.840 sure who the next three the largest lenders are, but 0:19:55.400 --> 0:19:59.280 off the top of my head, I named Chase, which, 0:20:00.240 --> 0:20:03.440 if I'm guessing, it's probably the biggest, you know bank 0:20:03.560 --> 0:20:05.280 in the country. You know, at least for this type 0:20:05.280 --> 0:20:10.960 of banking Bank of America, which might be number two. 0:20:11.040 --> 0:20:16.800 Who knows bill Wells Fargo, you know, maybe they're number three. 0:20:16.960 --> 0:20:22.879 I don't know, so don't want me to. But in 0:20:22.960 --> 0:20:28.639 any case, it's a matter of how big Wells Fargo 0:20:28.840 --> 0:20:31.639 is relative to those other three. If every bank is 0:20:31.720 --> 0:20:35.879 the same size, right, Wells Fargo is the same size 0:20:35.880 --> 0:20:39.320 as the Credit Union on the corner, then yeah, that's 0:20:39.400 --> 0:20:42.679 saying something. Absolutely Wells Fargo, You're absolutely right, we got 0:20:42.720 --> 0:20:45.480 nothing more to talk about. But if Wells Fargo is 0:20:45.560 --> 0:20:49.879 a giant compared to the next three financial institutions that 0:20:50.160 --> 0:20:53.960 create these sorts of loans, then that's a real easy 0:20:54.040 --> 0:20:57.600 bar to get off, right, because if Wells Fargo is 0:20:57.880 --> 0:21:01.040 three times the size of the next three lenders, and 0:21:01.160 --> 0:21:03.400 then yeah, that's that. That makes sense. 0:21:03.600 --> 0:21:06.000 And this and this isn't a punitive response from us. 0:21:06.080 --> 0:21:08.520 We don't know that Wells Fargo isn't. 0:21:08.920 --> 0:21:11.240 I'm just saying this is how language works, right. 0:21:11.280 --> 0:21:14.320 Yeah, And saying we're the least racist of the racist 0:21:15.400 --> 0:21:16.680 isn't really a flex. 0:21:16.760 --> 0:21:16.879 Ya. 0:21:16.920 --> 0:21:18.480 It's not saying and I'm not saying that that's what 0:21:18.560 --> 0:21:19.000 they're saying. 0:21:19.000 --> 0:21:21.680 I'm just saying yeah, and we've talked about on a 0:21:21.720 --> 0:21:26.320 show that it's we're picking on Wells Farbo right now 0:21:26.359 --> 0:21:29.280 because A we can and because we have personal experiences, 0:21:29.560 --> 0:21:31.520 but b because that's what the articles about this has 0:21:31.560 --> 0:21:33.159 been about Bank of America Chase. It could have been 0:21:33.160 --> 0:21:36.040 about again the credit union on the corner by your house. 0:21:36.119 --> 0:21:38.200 Listening to us today in whatever city you're in, you know, 0:21:38.320 --> 0:21:41.600 here in Vermont listening, you know, I shout out Vermont. 0:21:43.000 --> 0:21:46.560 It's such an ex Vermont, you know, and I've been there. 0:21:46.600 --> 0:21:48.639 Your your your state is so kind, your people are 0:21:48.680 --> 0:21:50.639 so kind. Shout out to all our listeners in Vermont 0:21:50.920 --> 0:21:53.400 and our affiliates. We have two broadcasts affiliates, so thank 0:21:53.440 --> 0:21:56.800 you both for carrying the show. Anyway, if you live 0:21:56.840 --> 0:21:59.520 in Vermont, we'd be having the same conversation about your 0:21:59.600 --> 0:22:05.520 financial institution as well. So we're just so happens to 0:22:05.560 --> 0:22:07.480 be the case that we're talking about Wells Fargo. And 0:22:08.400 --> 0:22:11.359 I say that to say that we're not saying that 0:22:11.440 --> 0:22:15.480 Wells Fargo is the only institution that engages in discriminatory 0:22:15.560 --> 0:22:18.879 black practices. In fact, we've spent a few shows now 0:22:19.640 --> 0:22:27.640 describing that the whole of I guess the economics as 0:22:27.680 --> 0:22:30.160 they relate to black people. The economics of this country 0:22:30.160 --> 0:22:34.480 as it relates to black people is biased away from 0:22:34.520 --> 0:22:38.040 black people getting and retaining wealth and tour white folks 0:22:38.440 --> 0:22:41.879 and not just black people losing wealth, but Hispanic do 0:22:42.040 --> 0:22:46.399 anybody mellimated? You know? And then you know white folks, 0:22:46.640 --> 0:22:50.760 and then Asian folks, largely, especially upperly mobile, super educated 0:22:50.800 --> 0:22:54.280 Asian folks, have been able to benefit from that. And 0:22:54.359 --> 0:22:56.959 I'm not playing into that model minority myth. There are 0:22:57.280 --> 0:22:59.520 systems in place that allow a lot of those folks 0:22:59.600 --> 0:23:03.840 to get fast tracked. There's a you know, what we 0:23:03.960 --> 0:23:05.760 do in this country is we try to get brains 0:23:05.800 --> 0:23:08.439 around the world. You know, we don't. This is how 0:23:08.480 --> 0:23:13.639 America is great. We go around, we scour the planet, 0:23:13.800 --> 0:23:15.480 We get all the best minds. We bring them here 0:23:15.520 --> 0:23:17.440 and put them in the best institutions. And in order 0:23:17.480 --> 0:23:20.920 for them to come here and study, we make sure 0:23:20.960 --> 0:23:23.840 that they have to stay here, live here, reside here, 0:23:23.960 --> 0:23:27.320 and work here before leaving to go back to their countries. 0:23:27.359 --> 0:23:29.040 And so we kind of have a monopoly on the 0:23:29.080 --> 0:23:32.840 world's brains. Maybe monopoly too strong a work, but that's 0:23:32.880 --> 0:23:34.479 really our strongest asset when it comes to a lot. 0:23:35.119 --> 0:23:38.040 And China has a lot of people, a lot of 0:23:38.080 --> 0:23:41.680 those Asian countries, Southeast Asia Asia proper, we have a 0:23:41.720 --> 0:23:44.040 lot of really smart folks, and so there are fast 0:23:44.119 --> 0:23:46.680 tracks to get here, to get to the wealth. And 0:23:46.760 --> 0:23:49.280 then if you choose to stay, have children, you know, 0:23:49.359 --> 0:23:51.920 bring over family members, et cetera. There are systems in 0:23:52.000 --> 0:23:54.119 place for you to do that. So those things often 0:23:54.280 --> 0:23:56.960 contribute to see look at those Asian folks, they're doing great, 0:23:57.640 --> 0:23:59.119 or do they have system in place to get them 0:23:59.160 --> 0:24:03.040 a new great? Or did you give them loans that 0:24:03.080 --> 0:24:04.960 are only good in black neighborhoods so that they could 0:24:05.200 --> 0:24:08.480 continue to have problems and develop rational tensions with black 0:24:08.520 --> 0:24:11.760 folks and so forth. I won't lean into that one again, 0:24:11.840 --> 0:24:14.280