A handful of people rallied against allegedracial discrimination
in housing loans
KINGSTON – Community activists gathered outside Ulster Savings
Bank branches in Kingston, new Paltz and Poughkeepsie Saturday to draw
attention to problems alleged in a federal lawsuit filed last month.
The Fair Housing Justice Center, a nonprofit civil rights organization,
conducted undercover investigations, showing alleged racial discrimination
in lending practices against minorities.
Rural and Migrant Ministry, Inc., a Poughkeepsie-based nonprofit with
union and faith-based affiliations spearheaded the weekend rallies to
raise awareness, explained organizer Richard Witt.
“As an account holder and member of the community, I was very disturbed.
When you paint that on the wider societal canvas right now, it seems there
are an emerging set of racist behavior, and a growing acceptance of institutionalized
racism,” Witt said.
About a dozen concerned citizens turned up at the Kingston and New Paltz
locations, and twice that number gathered in Poughkeepsie.
“We’re not exactly protesting, in fact we’re not protesting
at all. What we’re here to do is offer a space of vigil, where we
can bring attention to racial bias, when and where it happens,”
said Michelle Meach of St. John’s Episcopal Church in Kingston.
Placards reading “our community welcomes all people,” displayed
to passing motorists along Washington Avenue, outside the man headquarters
of Ulster Savings in Kingston. The group held a brief prayer vigil following
a one-hour demonstration, then quietly dispersed.
“We want to be in support and solidarity with that kind of sentiment,”
Meach observed, adding that the intent was to raise consciousness, rather
than to point fingers.
Witt hoped the rallies put pressure on the bank to be more thoughtful
on how it could help prevent housing discrimination. Better training,
policies and programs are among the reparations he suggested.
According to the federal complaint, Ulster Savings, between 2011 and 2015,
made only 40 primary loans to African-American borrowers – out of
a total of 1,599 such mortgages (2.5 percent). “And, out of the
112 loans made across Long Island over the same time period, only a single
one was to an African American borrower,” the lawsuit alleged.
