Housing discrimination in its many forms was ever-present in the region where I grew up. One form is mortgage redlining. I really liked this Reveal data investigation https://www.revealnews.org/article/for-people-of-color-banks-are-shutting-the-door-to-homeownership/
It was a year-long effort based on a government database of over 30 million records of mortgage applications. The journalists could see prospective borrowers’ race, income, debt ratios and location of the home. Their analysis showed minority applicants are denied at more than twice the rate of white borrowers. They explained that banks keep credit scores secret as well as the guidelines they use to generate those scores, then banks say the scores are the reason for disparity. The authors make a strong case that lenders are routinely breaking federal law.
The data was mapped, allowing me to look at some of my old neighborhoods, which as the story suggests, are gentrifying and almost all mortgages go to white people. Upsetting!
Bank regulators are fine with the disparity and even loosening the rules. This story could help legislators fix loopholes and make lending more transparent and more fair.