Color and Money: Politics and Prospects for Community Reinvestment in Urban America

by Sally O'Connor and Gregory D. Squires

Gregory D. Squires is Professor and Chair of the Department of Sociology at George Washington University and the author of several books, including Capital and Communities in Black and White: The Intersections of Race, Class, and Uneven Development, also published by SUNY Press. Sally O'Connor is Lecturer in the Department of Sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0791449521
• ISBN13: 9780791449523
• Release Date: March 2001
• Publisher: State University of New York Press
• Length: 218 Pages
• Weight: 0.66 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.9" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

A Reminder that Less is Still Less

Squires and O'Conner argue that the lending gap is narrowing in Milwaukee, WI. However, this is a slow process. The authors highlight that the narrowing of the lending gap has come about in response to advocacy at the local and national levels. Despite progress, efforts to improve access to capital in inner-cities are complicated by persistent opposition in policy circles and consolidation in the banking industry. If current trends continue, the outlook for inner cities is bleak, at best it may take in excess of 140 years for blacks and whites to have equal access to capital. However, Squires and O'Conner map out a course for improving the odds. In their chapters they indicate that the solution to the lending problem lies in a combination of: new lending products, mortgage counceling, affirmitive action hiring in banks, the location of more branches in inner city communities, and stronger CRA legislation.