The State of Opportunity

What You Just Said Hurts My Head

Submitted by Julie Rowe on Thu, 05/17/2012 - 1:03pm

We’re all familiar with the feeling of cognitive dissonance, when suddenly we’re forced to hold two contradicting ideas in our heads. Maybe we’ve just heard unflattering news about someone we respected, or have been presented with facts that challenge a deeply held worldview. As any communications expert will tell you, we tend to deal with this kind of dissonance by simply rejecting the new information as incorrect, unreliable, or purposefully misleading.

No More Excuses on Relief to American Homeowners

Submitted by Alan Jenkins on Thu, 05/17/2012 - 11:20am

Housing

Read also: Home Opportunity Initiative

One by one, the excuses have fallen. Yet Edward DeMarco, acting head of FHFA, the agency that runs Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, still fails to offer the most effective relief available to American homeowners struggling with mortgages held by those entities. Economists, housing experts, and members of DeMarco’s own staff have concluded that reducing to affordable levels the principal owed on at-risk mortgages is effective in reducing foreclosures and their destructive fallout. But, inexplicably, he’s been unmoved by the mounting evidence.

Quick and Smart Facts: Americans' Views on Marriage Equality and LGBT rights

Submitted by Eleni Delimpaltadaki on Fri, 05/11/2012 - 2:16pm

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Views on rights for LGBT people have changed drastically in as little as a single decade. Below, I have summed up overall trends in Americans' atittudes on the issue and the affect of race, gender, age, and religion on these attitudes—based on an in-depth meta-analysis of related public opinion published by The Opportunity Agenda earlier this year.

The Negative Influence of Reality TV on Teenage Girls

Submitted by Zakeia Tyson on Wed, 05/02/2012 - 3:54pm

Many of us may have conversed around the water cooler about the provocative behavior that is displayed on some reality TV shows. It’s like junk food: we love it and we know it’s bad for us, but we—and our children—watch anyway. You might say that it’s a parent’s duty to steer a child in the right direction; however, with loads of technology available at our fingertips on a variety of devices, it can be next to impossible to shield a child from junk TV. Reality TV is popular entertainment that may be having an impact on teenage girls, making it seem that the impertinent verbal exchanges and sometimes violent confrontations displayed heavily on reality TV shows such as Basketball Wives and Real Housewives of Atlanta are normal and desirable forms of behavior.

Opportunity Impact Statement: Ensuring an Economy that Works

Submitted by Juhu Thukral on Tue, 04/24/2012 - 1:42pm

Americans prioritize finding solutions for our economy and job creation, and it is clear that we need an economy that works for all of us. This means building the jobs and the infrastructure that will create equal opportunities for success for all Americans. In order to make smart and necessary decisions about how and where we spend our money, we need to evaluate the impact of spending, while also honoring our commitment to avoid engaging in discrimination.

Racial Discrimination by Banks Is Worsening the Foreclosure Crisis

Submitted by Alan Jenkins on Thu, 04/12/2012 - 12:09pm

Housing
Race

Is there a house in your neighborhood that everybody hates to walk past? You know, the one with broken and boarded up windows, trash left to gather on the lawn, and grass so overgrown it’s becoming a habitat for rodents?

If you have a house like that in your community, you know it’s more than just an eyesore. Neglected, vacant houses depress property values throughout the community, and can threaten health and safety. They erode the sense of community and stability that creates vibrant localities, and they hamper economic resiliency. With a national foreclosure crisis still in full swing, such houses are all too common.

Protecting Fair Lending Is Key To Our Economic Recovery

Submitted by Alan Jenkins on Wed, 04/04/2012 - 3:16pm

Most Americans correctly understand that the economic meltdown was caused by a perfect storm of misconduct in the lending and financial industries and inadequate rules and enforcement. A 2010 Pew Financial Reform Project poll, for example, found that American likely voters overwhelmingly blamed banks for making unsustainable mortgages (42%) and too little regulation of Wall Street (24%) for the crisis.

Fewer are aware, however, of the role that racial bias and discrimination by lenders and brokers played in creating the crisis. Understanding that role and the tools available to correct it is key to ensuring our nation's full economic recovery.

Trayvon Martin's Tragic Killing, through the Media Looking Glass

Submitted by Alan Jenkins on Mon, 04/02/2012 - 10:30am

This op-ed was originally published by McClatchy

The mainstream media have played a mostly positive role in covering the tragic and senseless killing of Trayvon Martin, the unarmed, 17-year-old African-American boy shot to death by a neighborhood watch volunteer in Sanford, Fla. After a slow start, reporters have uncovered new facts and asked tough questions, including about Sanford Police Chief Bill Lee's refusal to arrest Trayvon's killer.

Connections Between Media Depictions of Black Men and Boys and Lower Life Chances

Submitted by Eleni Delimpaltadaki on Thu, 03/22/2012 - 4:39pm

While there has been significant improvement in racial attitudes in the past half-century, the tragic death of Trayvon Martin suggests that stereotypes and bias against African Americans, especially males, still persist. The Opportunity Agenda’s new report, "Opportunity for Black Men and Boys: Public Opinion, Media Depictions, and Media Consumption," lays out evidence that African-American men and boys are grossly overrepresented in depictions of criminality and violence in the media, as compared to documented reality. These false portrayals, reasearch proves, can lead to distorted and negative perceptions as well as discriminatory treatment against African Americans.

On Foreclosures: Too Little, But Not Too Late

Submitted by Alan Jenkins on Wed, 03/21/2012 - 11:13am

Housing

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Our Compact for Home Opportunity calls on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to reduce the principal on loans they own or back to fair market value.

The Obama administration and states around the country have taken important steps in recent months toward putting American homeownership and financial security back on track. But it’s clear that more ambitious solutions are needed.

After a lull due to negotiations over fraudulent bank practices, foreclosures are expected to come roaring back this year, with hundreds of thousands of Americans newly at risk of losing their homes. As the scourge of foreclosures continues, the economic security of families and the stability of communities remain at risk. The crisis has deepened inequality throughout the country, and continues to hold us back as a nation.

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