On Oct. 7, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Scott Turner opened an investigation into Wells Fargo over its pledges to increase black homeownership.
asserted
Turner → open → homeownership
He said the bank’s conduct was “immoral, unethical and un-American” even if it broke no law.
asserted
it → say → law
Raising black homeownership is a Republican goal, and a Republican administration is investigating a bank for pursuing it, weeks before the Nov. 3 midterm elections.
asserted
administration → raise → elections
Black Republicans call that a mistake in private.
asserted
Republicans → call → that
Few will say it on the record, so I will.
asserted
I → say → record
Start with what is at stake.
asserted
what → start → stake
President Donald Trump doubled his share of black voters in 2024, from 8% to 16%.
asserted
Trump → double → %
Public safety and immigration will not hold them this year or in 2028.
asserted
safety → hold → 2028
An economic message could, and the administration has not written one.
uncertain
administration → write → one
Guy Benson made the same case about energy in these pages this month: Republicans, starting with the president, should have been “consistently seeding the message.”
asserted
Republicans → make → message
With black voters, the message is sitting in plain sight.
asserted
message → sit → sight
Republicans have a claim to it that goes back to President Richard Nixon, who created the federal minority business office in 1969.
uncertain
who → have → 1969
Former President George W. Bush set a goal of 5.5 million new minority homeowners.
asserted
Bush → set → homeowners
Trump’s own 2020 Platinum Plan promised to advance homeownership in black communities, and Wells Fargo made its $60 billion pledge in his first year in office.
asserted
Fargo → promise → office
Candidates have numbers to work with.
asserted
Candidates → have → numbers
Black household income rose 4.8% last year after falling 3.3% in 2024.
asserted
income → rise → 2024
Black homeownership was 45.4% this spring, up from 43.9% a year earlier, and the black Conservative Federation’s new report sets a goal of a 5-point gain within a decade.
asserted
report → set → decade
Not every number flatters.
asserted
number → flatter → ?
Black unemployment rose to 7% in September, a statistically significant jump.
asserted
unemployment → rise → September
Good or bad, numbers like these are how Washington measures progress.
asserted
Washington → measure → progress
It rarely writes black-only policy, whatever the loudest voices on either side claim.
uncertain
voices → write → side
It keeps score, as former President Barack Obama’s White House did in 2016, crediting work to improve the lives of “all Americans, including African Americans.”
asserted
House → keep → Americans
In Trump’s first term, the message had authors.
asserted
message → have → authors
Ja’Ron Smith, a domestic policy aide who worked closely with Jared Kushner, got credit for opportunity zones, criminal justice reform and funding for historically black colleges and universities.
asserted
who → work → colleges
Turner ran the opportunity zone council, which ended in 2020 and was never restored.
asserted
which → run → 2020
Last year, the president ordered Nixon’s minority business agency cut to the legal minimum.
asserted
agency → order → minimum
Candidates cannot deliver a message the administration has not articulated.
asserted
administration → deliver → message
What it has conveyed is opposition.
asserted
conveyed → convey → What
Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, the Justice Department’s civil rights chief, has described past enforcement as a form of “benevolent racism.”
asserted
Dhillon → describe → racism
She has a point.
asserted
She → have → point
Government should not sort citizens by race.
asserted
Government → sort → race
But opposition alone tells black voters what Republicans are against.
asserted
Republicans → tell → what
It does not tell them what Republicans offer.
asserted
Republicans → tell → what
Turner turned that opposition into an investigation.
asserted
Turner → turn → investigation
Congress wrote special-purpose credit programs into the Equal Credit Opportunity Act in 1976, and President Gerald Ford signed it.
asserted
Ford → write → it
Federal regulators encouraged lenders to create them in February 2022.
asserted
regulators → encourage → February
That April, Wells Fargo announced one: $150 million to help minority homeowners refinance at lower rates, paid from its own lending division.
asserted
homeowners → announce → division
This August, seven agencies led by HUD withdrew the guidance.
asserted
agencies → lead → guidance
HUD opened its inquiry six weeks later.
asserted
HUD → open → inquiry
Washington wrote the law, encouraged the program and then investigated the bank that took it at its word.
asserted
that → write → word
…and 20 more, not listed.
The Aporia
