For a moment, we entertained the possibility that these writers at CNN (and their supervisors) were just stupid, but it’s really hard not to see what they did as anything but evil. Allow us to explain why we think that.
Via Philip Lewis, who describes himself as a Senior Editor at the Huffington Post, we get this shocking, shocking proof of racism in banking:
The nation’s largest credit union rejected more than half its Black conventional mortgage applicants https://t.co/H9cdCCmzaF pic.twitter.com/Kg5tIMDWrH
— philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) December 14, 2023
Here’s the passage he quoted, in case you didn’t want to embiggen it:
While many banks also approved White applicants at higher rates than Black borrowers, the nearly 29-percentage-point gap in Navy Federal’s approval rates was the widest of any of the 50 lenders that originated the most mortgage loans last year.
The disparity remains even among White and Black applicants who had similar incomes and debt-to-income ratios. Notably, Navy Federal approved a slightly higher percentage of applications from White borrowers making less than $62,000 a year than it did of Black borrowers making $140,000 or more.
A deeper statistical analysis performed by CNN found that Black applicants to Navy Federal were more than twice as likely to be denied as White applicants even when more than a dozen different variables – including income, debt-to-income ratio, property value, downpayment percentage, and neighborhood characteristics – were the same.
Wow, that is pretty damning. You know, unless you know anything about how banks and similar institutions decide whether or not to give a person a loan. Then you will notice what is not being mentioned. You know, things like credit score, credit history and all of that.
And here’s the really damning part. It takes ten paragraphs before CNN even gets a statement in the bank’s defense, and it is devastating:
In a statement, Navy Federal spokesperson Bill Pearson defended the credit union’s lending practices. …
Pearson said that CNN’s analysis ‘does not accurately reflect our practices’ because it did not account for ‘major criteria required by any financial institution to approve a mortgage loan.’ Those factors included ‘credit score, available cash deposits and relationship history with lender,’ he said.
We admit we didn’t initially think of the last two factors, but then we aren’t bankers. So, CNN makes the accusation of racial discrimination for nine paragraphs, and doesn’t start to tell you that they aren’t really comparing apples to apples until the tenth paragraph.
Next, CNN posts this whiny defense of their distortion:
But that information is not available in the public mortgage data. Navy Federal declined to release additional data about its loans to CNN that included borrowers’ credit scores or other variables.
Except Navy Federal can’t release that kind of information willy-nilly under the Fair Credit Reporting Act. Seriously, if you have ever applied for any kind of loan, or had to have your credit rating checked in any other context, you have to sign a form consenting to have your credit rating checked. That statute is one of the major reasons why.
Since CNN is literally printing that complete defense, they know their entire article is unfounded. They even admit much later in the article that ‘CNN’s analysis doesn’t prove that Navy Federal discriminated against any borrowers.’ But that is long after the bell is rung.
Considering it all together, we can’t believe that CNN is being stupid. We are convinced that they know they are giving readers a false impression that they have proven racial discrimination on purpose, just to stir the pot—while putting in just enough limitations to keep from being successfully sued for defamation.
Look, racism exists. Racial discrimination exists. We have seen it and we have seen statistical proof of it. We wouldn’t be shocked if it exists in the banking/credit union industry. We are not going to fall on any sword claiming that it is impossible for Navy Federal or any similar institution to have engaged in racial discrimination.
But if Navy Federal discriminates against black people based on their race, CNN has not found competent evidence of it. And CNN should be ashamed of itself for stirring this pot without such evidence.
Still, this didn’t stop a few chuckleheads from spreading the narrative:
What racism?
— I remember house parties (@polyscimom) December 14, 2023
The nation’s largest credit union rejected more than half its Black conventional mortgage applicantshttps://t.co/26j9ZfH0jP
The nation’s largest credit union rejected more than half its Black conventional mortgage applicants but @tuckercarlson & @elonmusk don’t want to talk about race https://t.co/DlSquWqsbr
— Wannabe Futures Scalper (@FuturesScalper) December 14, 2023
Not surprised! Not shocked! We will never get a fair shot https://t.co/XVneMwNiZp
— Luka G (@LukaGcity) December 14, 2023
Dear God-send more help ‘cuz we can’t even get discrimination out of our banks to house families: “…even when more than a dozen different variables–including income, debt-to-income ratio, property value, downpayment percentage… – were the same.” 😔🙏🏽 https://t.co/1TZodganrT
— Heidi Hollis (@1HeidiHollis) December 14, 2023
DAMN. They’re saying NavyFed is racist AF smh https://t.co/FCduDXvKTw
— 🥃 (@Terence_da_AMOG) December 14, 2023
@ewarren @POTUS Where’s your war on this @ewarren ?? Defi and @bitcoinzay #BITCOIN could help solve this!!! just admit @ewarren you really don’t care about US! https://t.co/7jb4qdQrDD
— PapaDoc ⚡️𐤊 (@PapaPapaDoc) December 14, 2023
So much for a meritocracy. https://t.co/0zuSRRlgMF
— Mrs.Pinky 🇺🇸 Iconic Marriage Coach (@MRSpinkston85) December 14, 2023
But there was some sanity:
Interesting because I’ve banked with them since 1996 and I’ve never had any issues with getting home loans or credit cards. Do you think that perhaps people with poor credit are listening to the scammers like HIM500 and going to them to get credit b/c they think it’s easier?😩🤔
— Good Trouble (@tomjessdan) December 14, 2023
You're being completely disingenuous. CNN admits they IGNORED credit score when comparing white and black lenders. That one score overrules all the others and CNN just ignored it. Such pathetic race baiting journalism.
— MegaChimp (@ChimpMega) December 14, 2023
Relationships are so important. That's all I'm going to say about that.
— 🦋 Bel Papiyon 🦋 (@reignofglitter) December 14, 2023
What were the credit scores? They mention debt to income ratio, but what were the average credit scores of those rejected, vs. approved. I think that will add to the proof of discrimination. Because just because your current debt to income is similar, how many late payments?
— Farid X (@Sfirx426) December 14, 2023
No comparison of credit scores, I notice. https://t.co/S59scx0w4g
— Amber Duke (Athey) (@amber_athey) December 14, 2023
And there was this observation:
Oh this is nasty. A lawsuit is sure to follow https://t.co/6OM1VEM0Ec
— Tee (@teebelowkey) December 14, 2023
Sadly, that’s probably true.
As a final note, why does CNN only pay attention to two races? They do know there are more than two races, right? Right?!
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