Several Chase bank branches in Chicago temporarily shut down following protests demanding an increase in lending services in the city’s black neighborhoods.
Demonstrators, who are conducting “pop-up protests” at branches around the city, are calling on the bank to issue reparations of $1 billion in grants and $10 billion in loans to Chicago’s black communities after reports exposed a gap in mortgage lending patterns.
A WBEZ/City Bureau analysis showed Chicago lenders invested 68% of their home purchase dollars in majority-white neighborhoods and only 8% in black neighborhoods.
Chase had the largest disparity in mortgage distributions of any major lending institution.
Ja’Mal Green, a 24-year-old activist and former mayoral candidate, has been spearheading the protests calling for lending equity.
“If you don’t want to lend on the South and West sides of Chicago, no Chase Bank will be able to be open,” Green said, according to WBEZ.
Chase has vowed to work with community partners and local government leaders to create and sustain home-ownership opportunities more fairly.
Protesters are planning more “pop-up protests” at branches across the city.
