My colleague is tired of hearing about discrimination. People of color are tired of living it

My dear friend, late colleague, and Civil Rights icon Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) once said, “If you see something that is not right, not fair, not just, you have a moral obligation to do something about it.” 

As a member of the exclusive House Financial Services Committee, I, along with my Democratic colleagues, take seriously my moral obligation to highlight injustices prevalent in financial institutions to ensure this industry better represents and meets the needs of all Americans.

Thus, when Rep. Al Green (D-Texas) cited a Northwestern University study that called attention to racial discrimination in the mortgage market in a hearing on Revamping and Revitalizing Banking in the 21st Century last week, I was outraged to hear my colleague, Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.), express that it was “tiresome” to listen to my colleagues and I “talk about discrimination.”

The Northwestern study that Congressman Green cited is one of countless analyses demonstrating the pervasiveness of systemic racism in American financial services. Due to this nation’s long, fraught history of redlining and practices of excluding people of color from economic opportunities, to this day minority loan applicants experience much higher denial rates than white applicants. 

Under the remarkable leadership of Chair Maxine Waters, I spent the last four years as chair of the Subcommittee on Diversity and Inclusion closely investigating the barriers facing women, minorities, and LBGTQ+ individuals when attempting to access capital.

Discrimination in financial services is not a myth — as Mr. Norman would have you believe — it is a reality. And it did not die with the ban on redlining in the 1968 Fair Housing Act, or the prohibition on lending discrimination in the 1974 Equal Credit Opportunity Act. Nor did it end with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s mandate to root out unfair, deceptive, and abusive practices in the financial system under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Protection Act over a decade ago. 

And since my colleague wanted to talk about credit scores, let’s talk about how centuries of excluding people of color from economic opportunities has prevented the creation of generational wealth among minority communities. Minorities seeking to build wealth are forced to overcome hurdles in nearly every aspect of life — education, health care, employment, housing, and criminal justice. Even at the ballot box, these groups are blocked from efforts to elect leaders and enact policies that would level the playing field.

The fact of the matter is: Minority applicants come to the table with the odds already stacked against them. 

Therefore, I propose to my colleague  — if discrimination does not exist, how do you explain the fact that Black wealth is one tenth of White wealth? Why is the poverty rate 7 percent for White people and 18 percent for Black people? Why do minority communities face higher rates of unemployment and homelessness?

Mr. Norman may believe that discrimination does not exist, but the facts would suggest otherwise.

This February during Black History Month and every day following, I implore my fellow Americans to challenge our preconceived notions of inequity not only in financial services, but in all aspects of our society. 

Despite great strides made over the last 50 years, tangible barriers still remain in this industry — and in all facets of our livelihoods. To tackle them we must come together and embrace our shared commitment for a more just nation where every person has access to the American dream. 

Let us not grow tired, but grow invigorated by our work to achieve equal opportunity for all.

Joyce Beatty represents Ohio’s 3rd District.