By
Matthew
Russell Lee
MANHATTAN,
August 14,
updated -- In
the Manhattan
version of
National
Moment of
Silence for
the killing of
Michael Brown
and police
crackdown in
Ferguson,
Missouri, 42nd
Street
between 8th
and 9th Avenue
was cordoned
off by NYPD
and protesters
told to leave
or be
arrested.
Inner City
Press was on
the scene,
repeatedly
told to back
away by the
police,
brandishing
handcuffs.
Protesters had
hands raised,
saying "Don't
shoot." It
being near
Times Square,
tourists on
the way asked,
"Where is St.
Louis?" Where
indeed.
Update:
And hours
later, though
the protest
was a block
from the
headquarters
of the New
York Times,
nothing on its
webpage or
Twitter feed.
The revolution
will not
be....
At
the UN on
August 13
Inner City
Press asked
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon's
spokesman
Stephane
Dujarric about
the killing
and crackdown.
Video
here.
Dujarric began
by saying that
Ban and the UN
have "no
particular
comment," then
added that "as
in all cases,
the right to
demonstrate
peacefully
needs to be
respected, and
investigations
need to be
conducted."
Okay, then.
On August 14,
Inner City
Press asked
again:
Inner
City Press: I
wanted to ask
you again
about these
incidents in
Ferguson,
Missouri.
And the reason
being that
they’ve
become, even
they’ve
basically been
covered by all
international
media
now.
Journalists
have been
arrested.
Tear gas was
used on camera
on unarmed
protesters.
So, I’m just
wondering,
beyond the
general
statements of
yesterday,
does anyone in
the UN system
intend to
contact either
local
authorities —
do you think…?
Spokesman:
At this point,
I have nothing
to add to what
I said
yesterday.
Well. There
have been
reports
mentioned the
financial
institutions
in the area,
including
nationwide
lenders Bank
of America,
US
Bank and
Fifth Third.
Inner
City Press and
Fair Finance
Watch reviewed
the
demographics
of mortgage
lending by
these three in
the area in
the most
recent year
for which data
is publicly
available,
2012.
In the St.
Louis
Metropolitan
Statistical
Area in 2012,
Bank of
America denied
the
conventional
home purchase
mortgage
applications
of African
Americans 1.81
times more
frequently
then those of
whites.
Fair
Finance Watch
has previously
objected
to US Bank's
stealth branch
closings,
including in
Chicago, here
and here. The
US Community
Reinvestment
Act requires
banks to lend
fairly in all
of their
communities,
but is not
sufficiently
enforced, FFW
has shown.
For US
Bank, the
disparities
was 1.6 to 1;
for Fifth
Third
Mortgage, that
company's
lender, it was
a whopping
4.95 to 1:
African
American
applicants
were denied
4.95 times
more
frequently
than whites,
worse that the
aggregate (all
lenders).
Troublingly,
for all
lenders
Latinos were
denied 3.1
times more
frequently
than than
whites. So
where is the
US headed? And
why has the UN
had nothing to
say so far?
Watch this
site.
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