U.S. Representative Nikema Williams (D-GA-05) reportedly said this week that the Federal Reserve must deliver “equity, diversity, and inclusion” to the banking and housing industries while also eliminating what she said was a “racial wealth disparity.”
Williams serves on the U.S. House Committee on Financial Services.
The congresswoman made her remarks as she granted a question-and-answer-format interview to Rolling Out magazine:
Educated Black people here in Atlanta, we have an outsized weight of the student loan debt in Atlanta and in this country, which is impacting the ability to close the racial wealth gap and increase homeownership. That’s one thing we need to address, but also just looking at the legislation that I’ve introduced, I voted in the House Committee on Financial Services to make sure we have equity, diversity and inclusion when it comes to banking and housing, and legislation that will clarify that the Federal Reserve should work to eliminate the racial wealth disparity when it comes to its duties to promote full employment and price stability.
I’ve also worked to introduce the Restoring Neighborhoods and Strengthening Communities Act, which I talk about every opportunity that I get because it will invest in the removal of highway infrastructure that was built through communities of color after the 1956 Federal Highway Act. Sometimes this was intentional, if you look at Atlanta, and neighborhoods like Summerhill, these highways were used to divide communities of color … we have set aside $2 billion to fund the act and I am working with the committee to ensure the community is involved in the project moving forward.
Williams announced last month she will co-chair the Washington, D.C.-based Congressional Voting Rights Caucus to fight what she calls voter suppression bills in 14 states.
Congressional Voting Rights Caucus members said they want swift passage of critical pieces of federal legislation to restore voting rights. They said 48 state legislatures “have introduced 389 voter suppression bills” and 14 states “have erected barriers to voting.”
Williams in June described Georgia’s voter integrity law, SB 202, as a “voter suppression bill.”
In January Williams submitted a resolution that would have, if enacted, banned former U.S. President Donald Trump from entering the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C.
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Chris Butler is an investigative journalist at The Tennessee Star. Follow Chris on Facebook. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Nikema Williams” by Congresswoman Nikema Williams. Background Photo “Federal Reserve” by Rdsmith4. CC BY-SA 2.5.
