Harry Bosch
Contributor
Aside from the part that either you or they invented ("don't get a mortgage" would not solve the problem, and CRT specialists aren't big fans of meaningless virtue signaling as a general rule) this is a fact, easily researched. Banks do, in fact, preferentially award mortgages and other associated loans to whites, and the reasons for that touch on the core ideas of CRT, that institutional racism survives less because of the actions of racist individuals than because the system was set up in such a way as to preserve class biases.
Disparity in home lending costs minorities millions, researchers find
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/08/19/lenders-deny-mortgages-for-blacks-at-a-rate-80percent-higher-than-whites.html
Residential loans are extremely regulated through fair lending, reg b and etc. As a result, they are very formula driven. Banks have to have set criteria to determine these loans. For example: a borrower may need 700 beacon score, 40% D:I; 10% down to qualify for a loan. If they are denied a loan, it's not because of their race, it's due to them not achieving the criteria. If blacks were systematically denied loans despite exceeding these ratios, they could sue that bank out of existence. There is more lender discretion in commercial loans by the way...
You're almost there.
The whole point of CRT discourse is that the system itself, not just the individual feelings of gatekeepers like lending agents, results in systemic discrimination against Blacks. Fixing overt racism would be good, but it's not enough if the goal to create genuine racial equity. If the end result is that Blacks are unfairly discriminated against in the housing market, that's the case even if the reasons for it are couched in other terms. Saying "that's just the way our system is set up" is not, from the perspective of someone who wants to end unfair and discriminatory practices, a sufficient answer to the problem. If a person can vastly change the outcome of a loan application simply by concealing their race, there's a big problem here, even if a computer algorithm presumably with no personal feelings at all is to blame.
Well, as a non-white person, I'm more comfortable with a loan program that evaluates my application based on objective ratios that I either achieve or don't achieve. At least then I have a fair shot and I could improve my ratios over time. But I wouldn't like it if the criteria is tweaked based on my "race" (hate that term). If people of my tribe are falling behind (like tribe better than race!); then I'd prefer to help people of my tribe better attain these ratios. Finally, the ratios were determined based on how to predict default rates. IOW, if the criteria is D:I of 40%; and someone has a D:I of 45%; they aren't "passing". Their cash flow is less, and they have a higher chance of loan default. The borrower loses for more if they are put into a loan that they can't repay.