A Cautionary Tale: Discriminatory Lending against Hispanic Farmers and Ranchers in Southern Colorado

Abstract

Despite legal and civil emancipation, minorities in the United States continue to face extremely unequal opportunity structures in the financial realm. Evidence of this is found in the fact that segregation between Anglos and minorities has changed little since the civil rights era. This is particularly true for Hispanics, who have actually witnessed an increase in segregation in recent years. Although many factors have contributed to this outcome, unequal access to financial credit has played a particularly important role in maintaining the status quo between Hispanics and Anglos. In this article, I analyze the lasting impact of discriminatory lending within Hispanic communities in southern Colorado. I examine how unfavorable access to credit has contributed to wealth disparities in this region. My results demonstrate that lenders systematically denied Hispanic farmers and ranchers access to subsidized loans throughout the twentieth century. The lack of access to formal banking, the underappreciation of homes and land, and the deliberate isolation of Hispanics from formal institutions forced many Hispanic families to leave the area altogether. Ultimately, unequal access to credit has fostered deep inequalities between Anglos and Hispanics in the region, which, in turn, has reinforced ethnic tension between these two groups.