To the Editor:

Much has been made of my appearance in Baltimore last week. I went there prepared to talk about real issues and solutions, but President Trump had something else in mind.

The comments he made about Elijah E. Cummi ngs, the esteemed congressman from Maryland, and the great people of Baltimore were bigoted and racist. While he aims to divide and disparage, we are building toward solutions and taking action.

This effort started when I and other black leaders sent a letter to Brian Moynihan , the chief executive of Bank of America, to discuss issues affecting the minority community. As one of the larger banks involved in the unsettling actions leading to the 2008 financial crisis, I found it important to begin a dialogue about issues like the effect of the subprime mortgage crisis.

The African-American homeownership rate remains under 50 percent, and minority families still face significant barriers because of systematic disadvantage and greed. As I said on the steps of the New Shiloh Baptist Church, this is what inspired our event about empowering communities like Baltimore to overcome the hurdles that still remain.