With the exception of the wealthiest Americans, almost everyone has suffered from the recent economic meltdown.

But communities of color have suffered disproportionately, with higher unemployment, more foreclosures and shuttered businesses, disproportionate victimization by predatory lending, and faster loss of family and community assets.

That’s why, in the Wall Street reform effort, race matters.

Fortunately, in addition to putting our entire economy back on solid footing, the strong bill passed by Congress, which President Obama says he will sign this week, pays special attention to the needs of diverse communities.

It will help prevent discrimination in three ways:

First, the bill guarantees basic consumer protection for every American.  It creates a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau which will finally protect consumers from the most predatory practices in lending, credit cards, and other financial products and services.

Think of it this way: If you buy a toaster, there’s a government agency charged with making sure that toaster won’t burn down your house when you plug it in. But when you get a mortgage, there is no government agency whose job it is to make sure that mortgage won’t burn down your financial house. Now there will be.

The CFPB will be able to ensure that people of color will be less likely to be targeted for subprime loans when they are eligible for prime loans, a real problem during the recent housing bubble. According to the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, African-Americans and Latinos with the highest credit scores – FICO scores of 720 and higher – were four times more likely to receive high-cost, subprime loans than white borrowers with comparable credit ratings.

The CFPB will be able to take many other actions to protect financial consumers, such as making sure that non-English speakers will have access to materials in their own languages.

In addition, the bill ensures that the people watching over the financial sector will be sensitive to the particular experiences of diverse communities.  With leadership from Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles), the bill creates Offices of Women and Minority Inclusion in each of the federal financial agencies.

Urging banks to diversify their staffs, the Boston Federal Reserve Bank has said that diverse staffs at banks “can create an environment in which minority applicants feel welcome, strengthen ties to minority communities, and design policies and products that more effectively meet the needs of minority consumers.”  If that sort of staff diversity is essential for banks, it’s even more important for those who will be policing them.

Third, the bill creates the transparency that could have prevented the targeting of communities of color that contributed to the challenges they now face.  Sunshine is the best disinfectant, and the data currently collected on home mortgage and small business lending will be enhanced so any discrimination can be more easily identified, publicized, and addressed.

New data will show the terms of a home loan received by a first-time homebuyer of color, and whether these were actually the best terms for which she is eligible.  And we will know how many contracts small minority-owned businesses receive, especially important since these businesses are the major job generators in communities of color.  Once the picture becomes clearer with passage of this law, it can motivate the financial sector to engage in safe, fair dealing with diverse communities.

Every American has a lot at stake in the Wall Street reform bill.  This is especially the case for the most marginalized Americans, who have been disproportionately impacted by the recent economic disaster.

While no piece of legislation is perfect, the new financial industry reform is a major step in the right direction for all our communities.

Chris Vaeth is Legislative Director of The Greenlining Institute, www.greenlining.org