US Banks Accused of Racial Discrimination

July 13, 2012 from Al Jazeera English

Protesters say that Wells Fargo and some other major banks offer higher mortgage rates to minorities. The US Department of Justice says they have reached a settlement with one of the lenders, Wells Fargo - which has agreed to a $175m payout. However, that sum is tiny in comparison to the $4.2bn profit the bank made in just the first quarter of this year. Al Jazeera's Kimberly Halkett reports

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US Department of Justice

The United States Department of Justice, also known as the Justice Department, is the United States federal executive department responsible for the enforcement of the law and administration of justice, equivalent to the justice or interior ministries of other countries. The D... Explore this topic

Wells Fargo

Wells Fargo Co. (NYSE: WFC) is a diversified financial services company with operations around the world. Wells Fargo is the fourth largest bank in the US by assets and the second largest bank by market cap. It is the only bank in the United States to be rated AAA by SPHeadq... Explore this topic

Discrimination

Discrimination is the prejudicial and/or distinguishing treatment of an individual based on their actual or perceived membership in a certain group or category, "in a way that is worse than the way people are usually treated." It involves the group's initial reaction or intera... Explore this topic

Bank of America

The Bank of America Corporation is an American multinational banking and financial services corporation headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. It is the second largest bank holding company in the United States by assets. As of 2010, Bank of America is the fifth-largest co... Explore this topic

Institutional racism

Institutional racism describes any kind of system of inequality based on race. It can occur in institutions such as public government bodies, private business corporations, and universities. The term was introduced by Black Power activists Stokely Carmichael and Charles V. Ham... Explore this topic

Mortgage loan

A mortgage loan is a loan secured by real property through the use of a mortgage note which evidences the existence of the loan and the encumbrance of that realty through the granting of a mortgage which secures the loan. However, the word mortgage alone, in everyday usage, is... Explore this topic

African American

African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have total or partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa. The term is not usually used for black residents of other countries in the Americas. African Americans make up the seco... Explore this topic

Hispanic and Latino Americans

Hispanic and Latino Americans refers to an ethnolinguistic group in the United States with origins in the countries of Latin America or the Iberian peninsula. More generally it includes all persons in the United States who self-identify as Hispanic or Latino. Reflecting especi... Explore this topic

Racism in the United States

Racism and ethnic discrimination in the United States has been a major issue since the colonial era and the slave era. Legally sanctioned racism imposed a heavy burden on Native Americans, African Americans, Asian Americans, and Latin Americans. European Americans were privile... Explore this topic

Race and ethnicity in the United States Census

Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, defined by the federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whethe... Explore this topic

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US Department of Justice

Discrimination

Wells Fargo

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