Thread by @jtlarsen

NEW: SBA data suggest that mosques suffered from disparities in PPP lending.

Some of it might be benign--but some might reflect existing bias & inequities in U.S. lending.

Here's my story for @tytinvestigates on what happened, and why:

tyt.com/stories/4vZLCH…

I shared some of our findings with @CAIRNational and @hijrahva, which did not relay any individual acts of bias, but said they were aware of systemic problems -- many of which predate the coronavirus.

CAIR's Robert McCaw said TYT's analysis, "certainly does raise a number of questions.”

“Without a complete picture on the PPP loan program’s data, it’s hard to know whether these numbers are a cause of concern for mosques and Islamic community centers.”

Specifically, because the SBA didn't name recipients below $150,000, that may skew the numbers if it turns out that mosques are smaller on average than other churches and therefore tipped toward smaller loans.

Another possible cause is Islam itself...

Many Muslims consider interest-bearing loans forbidden.

Dar Al-Hijrah's Saif Rahman told me, “The issue I have heard is that communities were reluctant to apply due to religious concerns.”

He said the loans were “problematic for many institutions that we had discussions with.”

(I should note, there IS such a thing as Islamic banking--utilizing methods such as profit-sharing instead of interest--but they're primarily found in small, Islamic-community banks. JP Morgan Chase is one of the few big banks to offer Islamic banking.)

One big issue seems to be the same one that plagued a lot of borrowers...

...the lending was driven by the banks...

...and the biggest banks favored the richest borrowers.