Census spotlights Nevada homeowner disparity

Wednesday, June 20, 2001 | 10:55 a.m.

Home ownership is apparently more attainable for white Nevadans than for Hispanics or blacks.

U.S. Census Bureau figures for 2000 released today revealed that 64.3 percent of white Nevadans own their residences, compared to just 46 percent for Hispanics and 39.8 percent for blacks. Those numbers came as no surprise to black and Hispanic community leaders.

The Rev. Marion Bennett of Zion Methodist Church in North Las Vegas placed at least some blame on alleged discriminatory bank mortgage lending practices known as red-lining, in which loans are based on race or ZIP code.

"If you're black, they charge you more interest," Bennett said. "It's more difficult for blacks to get loans for housing. There is also a lack of access to jobs. In a lot of jobs blacks have been replaced by Hispanics. Having a steady job is something they look for in a first-time home buyer."

There are also relatively few black-owned local financial institutions, said Mujahid Ramadan, executive director of the Nevada Partners Inc. job placement and counseling service in North Las Vegas. Ramadan said that blacks are more frequently denied loan requests based on questions about their credit history than other ethnic groups.

"We need more financial institutions owned or run by African-Americans who are more understanding of their challenges and barriers," Ramadan said.

Representatives of the National Council of La Raza, a nonprofit civil rights and community development organization in Washington, are in Nevada this week and will push for increased home ownership among Latinos in this state. Charles Kamasaki, senior vice president of the organization, said La Raza will attempt to establish counseling services to help Hispanics buy their first homes.

"Latinos, on average, tend to have low incomes and are less likely to own homes than others, but it turns out that income alone may not be as important as originally thought," Kamasaki said. "If Latinos owned homes at the same rate as whites of similar income, their home ownership would be in the 60 percent range."

He said discrimination in bank lending and home insurance rates affect Hispanics as well. But Kamasaki said lack of education and unfamiliarity with mortgage banking practices in this country also prevent many Hispanics from understanding how to buy a home.

"In a lot of Latin countries, such as Mexico, a 50 percent down payment is common, and there is a much higher interest rate," Kamasaki said. "In addition to lack of knowledge among Hispanics, there is also a lack of knowledge among key players such as Realtors and bankers about the Latin community."

Among other Census 2000 findings:

* Of Nevada's non-Hispanic white families, 75.1 percent were headed by males. Only 52.3 percent of black families were headed by males. Men also headed 73.9 percent of Hispanic families, 71 percent of Asian-American families, 69.5 percent of Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander families, 67.2 percent of biracial families and 57.1 percent of American Indian/Alaska Native families.

* Hispanics, the state's largest minority group, also had the largest families on average in Nevada last year. The average Hispanic family had 4.04 people, nearly 29 percent above the state average.

* Unmarried partners represented 7.2 percent of Nevada households last year. Among that group, 52.8 percent involved a male head of household with a female partner and 38 percent had a female head of household with a male partner. Gay male partnerships constituted 5.1 percent and lesbian couples represented 4.1 percent. Overall, gay male and female partnerships represented only six-tenths of 1 percent of all Nevada households.

The relatively low percentage of Nevada families headed by black males is tied to the disproportionately high number of black men in prison, Ramadan said.

"I blame a biased and unjust criminal justice system," Ramadan said. "If we were to change that equation, we would see more households with black men in them."

Bennett said the destruction of black families in this country dates back to slavery.

"We haven't been able to lick it yet," he said. "We see it in the lack of education and job accessibility. The churches ought to take the initiative with educational programs and tutorial workshops."

The experience is different among Hispanic households in Nevada, where large families headed by men are the norm. Kamasaki attributed the large families in part to the relative youth of Hispanics nationally. Nevada statistics bear him out.

The average Hispanic males and females in Nevada are 24.9 years old and 24.4 years old, respectively, compared to a state average of 34.5 for men and 35.6 for women. Non-Hispanic whites, who average the smallest families in the state, are also the oldest among Nevadans. The men average 39.3 years of age, the women, 40.2.

Hispanics in Nevada are more than twice as likely as non-Hispanic whites to have five people in a household, nearly four times as likely to have at least six people in a household and more than seven times as likely to have seven or more people under one roof, according to census figures.

"The Hispanic population is younger, so you have more women of child-bearing age," Kamasaki said. "Therefore, you have more kids. They also tend to have more extended families living with them, such as uncles and cousins, for economic and cultural reasons."