Nov. 30,
2016
Dear
Friends at Christian Community Development Association (CCDA):
I feel
compelled to write this open letter to CCDA in the prophetic tradition because
I feel strongly that President Elect Trump’s choice for treasury secretary
would be very detrimental to those that CCDA cares so deeply about.
I have followed
Dr. Perkins for over 35 years, and lived and worked at the Harambee center. My
Christian faith has been deeply shaped by the mission of CCDA. As a Christian
missionary, I was led to live in an African American neighborhood of Pasadena
and committed myself to learn from my neighbors. Over the years I have witnessed
gentrification and the exodus of African Americans from my neighborhood. This
led me to become concerned about housing justice—writing, teaching and giving
workshops around the country. I edited Making
Housing Happen which features many CCDA leaders who have addressed the
housing crisis and they have had a profound influence on me. Because of deep
concern for housing justice, I am heart-sick to witness the cabinet choices of
President Elect Donald Trump, especially his choice for treasury secretary. According to a report from Democracy Now:
…..[ President Elect Trump] named billionaire
Steven Mnuchin to be treasury secretary. Mnuchin has deep ties on Wall Street,
including working as a partner for Goldman Sachs, where his father also worked.
Mnuchin’s hedge fund also played a role in the housing crisis, after it scooped
up the failing California bank IndyMac in 2008. Under Mnuchin’s ownership,
IndyMac foreclosed on 36,000 families, particularly elderly residents trapped
in reverse mortgages. Mnuchin was accused of running a "foreclosure
machine." The bank, which was renamed OneWest, was also accused of
racially discriminatory lending practices. In 2015, Mnuchin sold the bank for
$3.4 billion—$1.8 billion more than he bought it for.
Living in Pasadena, CA, home of IndyMac
later named One West (by the investor pool led by Mnuchin in 2009) I experienced
first-hand the effects of this “foreclosure machine.” I have friends who worked
for IndyMac and together we watched it follow the path of providing subprime
loans to people who could not afford them. Loans were given to two immigrant
families I knew who had high hopes for the American dream of homeownership. The
documents, required to be in Spanish, were offered only in English. These
families were not required to state their income. The loans were intentionally
made so that the borrowers would not repay them. This led these families into
serious financial difficulty. That’s where I came in, helping to save their
homes. It was a race against time. Phone calls to the bank were never responded
to, while foreclosure proceedings proceeded faster than we could fill out loan
modification paperwork. After applying for programs designed to help, help
never came. Their home was lost. The parents and their seven children were
given 15 minutes to pack up and leave.
“Despite its secure financial footing,
OneWest had a history of problems with regulators over its foreclosure
practices and lending and has been accused of being unwilling to work with
borrowers seeking mortgage loan modifications despite promises to do so.
Community groups have accused the bank of being particularly aggressive about
foreclosing on properties in minority neighborhoods.” [1]
In my book I feature Rose Gudiel who stood
up to IndyMac when they tried to foreclose on her home. Courageous people,
including the religious community, began an around-the-clock vigil preventing
the sheriff from evicting her. Others protested at the home of the Steven
Mnuchin, then president of IndyMac, who
lives in a 26 million dollar mansion in Bel Air. Only then did the bank decide
to renegotiate her loan.
This is the bank president that
President Elect Trump chose for treasurer secretary. His approach to banking
reminds me of what one of my favorite theologians Walter Wink referred to as
“powers and principalities”—the forces of Mammon, the God of Wall Street.
The prophets always spoke to nations,
cities, kings and leaders, warning them to care for the most vulnerable. This
incident causes me to recall the prophet Isaiah’s lament over Jerusalem:
Your leaders are rebels,
the companions of thieves.
All of them love bribes
and demand payoffs,
but they refuse to defend the cause of orphans
or fight for the rights of widows. Isaiah 1:23
the companions of thieves.
All of them love bribes
and demand payoffs,
but they refuse to defend the cause of orphans
or fight for the rights of widows. Isaiah 1:23
I know that when we Evangelicals voted
in the current election, we did not vote for a repeat of what happened in 2008
when low-income people were targeted for bad loans and lost not only their
homes but most of the life savings. Many have not yet recovered from this
devastating economic setback caused by bankers like Steven Mnuchin. Trump won
support of the middle class by declaring “I will protect you from Goldman
Sacs.”[2] Now he is appointing a partner with Goldman
Sachs. This is being called “a flip-flop of historic proportion.”[3]
As Christians, we are called to defend
the rights of the poor. “Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves,
ensure justice for those being crushed, yes, speak up for the poor and
helpless, and see that they get justice” (Proverbs 31:8-9). Therefore, I urge
you to call upon President Elect Trump to reconsider appointing Mnuchin, and to
urge your Senators not to confirm him. We need to insist that our President choose
cabinet members who are concerned about the rights of the poor.
I love our county and thank you for
taking action.
Jill
Shook
Doctor of Ministry,
Bakke Graduate School
Blog:
makinghousinghappen.net Website: makinghousinghappen.com
Author/Editor: Making
Housing Happen: Faith Based Affordable Housing Models
Jill@
makinghousinghappen.com
Making sure that wall steet is in the drivers seat. Elizabeth
Warren, “managed to participte in all the worse practices on Wall Steet.
Accused of descriminatry lending practices.
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