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National: Sub-Prime Mess Crushed Black America; Georgia Lawmaker Says Black Colleges Unnecessary
December 17th, 2008
Sub-prime mess crushed Black America. Nobody got hit by the mortgage crisis like Blacks and Latinos. A study by the nonprofit United for a Fair Economy found that people of color lost an unbelievable $164 billion to $213 billion over the past eight years, thanks to the subprime lending mess. When you go to minority communities all over America, there is evidence of a dramatic economic distress, United concluded. There is an increase in abandoned homes, the devaluation of neighboring houses, increased crime, struggling commercial centers and tax base erosion, it found. “It’s important to realize just how much ground middle- and working-class Black Americans have lost in the subprime crisis,” said Amaad Rivera, a spokesman for United for a Fair Economy and co-author of the report. Rivera says that Blacks saw between $71 billion and $92 billion of their wealth dry up over the past eight years. Latinos, between $75 and $98 billion of wealth evaporated during the same time period. Why? The best answer is that they fell prey to predatory lenders, who disproportionately targeted them, the study says, noting that the subprime mortgage crisis will cost minority homeowners 40 percent more wealth than White homeowners in similar circumstances. “There’s no doubt in looking at the data … these predatory loans were targeted at racial minorities,” Austin King, a spokesman for Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now told Black Voices. “Even when you zero out all the other factors like income and credit scores, even then a high-income African American was still as likely to be sold a subprime loan as a low-income White person.”
Georgia lawmaker says Black colleges unnecessary. In Georgia, where state officials are grappling with a $2 billion budget deficit, one lawmaker wants to merge to historically Black colleges with nearby White ones. Republican Seth Harp, who is chairman of the State Senate Higher Education Committee, says Harp. Harp believes that fusing the two campuses would save the cash-strapped Peach State millions and would allow Georgia to do away with what he contends are discriminatory institutions. But many Black educators, politicians and alumni say the historically Black colleges are serving a special need. “Historically Black institutions play a vital role in the community, the state and the nation,” said Dwayne Ashley, the president of the Thurgood Marshall Scholarship Fund, which supports Black colleges. “They provide educations to a number of young men and women who might not otherwise attend college.” Joining Ashley is a host of other state officials, which is why the measure likely will not see the light of day. “This proposal would continue a long history of White officials implementing an economic plan that disintegrates institutions in the Black community,” said Ruby Sales, the founder of SpiritHouse Project, a social justice organization, drafted a petition to save the Black schools Sales. “Black educational history has been decimated under these types of desegregation plans.”
I THINK THAT WHEN ..”B.E.T’..MENTIONS BLACK COLLEGES IT MEANS A COLLEGE THAT IS RUN BY ..”AFRICAN AMERICANS”..AND WAS FOUNDED BY PEOPLE OF COLOR. SO YOU SEE YOU DO HAVE ..’WHITE COLLEGES”..THEY WAS FOUNDED BY ..”WHITE PEOPLE”.. AND ARE BEING RUN BY..”WHITE PEOPLE “.AND YES YOU DO HAVE PLENTY OF MINORITIES THAT ATTEND. BUT BLACK COLLEGES HAVE A HISTORY AND STILL HAVE A PURPOSE. IT WOULD BE JUST AS IF THE STATE OF GEORGIA GOT RID OF..’ THE CONFEDRATE FLAG”!. NOW I KNOW THAT IS NOT A DECENT COMPARISON BUT SOME WILL SEE IT BETTER IF I SAY IT THIS WAY.
How could any one think that a merger like this could help, sound like you want our money to help out the other colleges, now you need our funds, You don’t teach african american the same things, Get with the program this is a new day, the old days are long gone. We have come a long way and we are not fools. Trust we have learned a lot from you. Thanks but no Thanks. We need our own college. What we don’t need is GEORGIA LAWMAKER who make up things like we don’t know what’s behind your motives. GET REAL.
To be honest, I think the proposal is fair if the sole intention is to save money. HBCUs have historically had lower graduation rates, except for the elites, such as Spelman, Morehouse, Howard, and NC A&T; not to say that HBCUs as a whole aren’t in any fashion fine institutions. Merging the less effective schools with so called other state school is a great idea, because it for one makes the minority ratio in regular state schools increase. One must not think that regular state schools don’t have a strong minority base, because most have a prominent Black or Latino culture in the student body. I think BET places this article behind the sub-prime crisis article to tie discrimination into the mix. Also, if this were proposed by statesmen in a different state that isn’t in the heart of the SOUTH, then little discrimination issues would be tied to the proposal.
Regardiing the Sub Prime Mortgages, if everyone didn’t feel they were entitled to the “American Dream” we wouldn’t have this mess. There is no entitlement here, you must work for it. If you want to buy a house, go to college get a degree and a well paying job or get 2 or 3 low paying ones. I had friends that poor as heck talking about buying a new house. I’m like how are they going to get a new house, they’re broke. Now I know. You can’t just blame the mortgage companies, you have to also blame the homeowners. It’s commonsense if you are working in fast food or convienence store you can’t afford to buy a new house with 1 job.
Regarding the colleges, they should be consolidated. We fought for equality and desegregation and now they are crying foul. You asked for it now you’ve got it. I think all colleges should be integrated. How can one make the arguement about blacks doing better in all black schools, what about when they graduate? Will they find all black companies to work in? How will they ever function if can’t learn to associate or work with other races? We have got to make up our minds, do we want to segregate or desegregate.
@ Lynn- Really the no one is taking anybody’s home. If you don’t pay your mortgage, the bank (who by the way truly owns your home until you pay it off) can take it if you don’t adhere to the terms of your mortgage.
Lessons to be learned from the so-called mortgage crisis:
1-Don’t throw good money after bad
2- People who don’t have a good history of paying their bills aren’t entitled to home ownership.
3- Read the fine print
4- Some (not all) banks, mortgage brokers and real estate agents need to stop being so slimy
Just my two cents
you don’t need a college degree to own a house, just a good-enough paying job and sense enough to know you can continuously make the mortgage payments along with the property tax, water/sewer/garbage (yes you have to pay for those services), as well as the regular utilities (electricity, heat, phone), not to mention the cost of maintenance (pest control, cleaning the ducts, backed up pipes/drains, etc.). not every one realized how much went into buying a house thinking it was just the house payment and got stuck. do the reasearch before jumping into something like this. it’ll be time-consuming but it will benefit you in the end.
I agree with the young lady about the taking of homes.You must pay your debts or you do not gain you lose and then you look for someone to blame.I know that some of the interest rates are high and politics could do more about that situation but but we as a whole need to sit down and start working out a budget plan that will fit our budgets so we won’t over spend on things that can wait. And about college are we angry because it was a white man that suggested that we merge together or what. our ancestors have fought for us to be in the mist of whites for a long time so whats the problem? if Martin Luther king was here rallying for these two schools to merge then we all would be out there in agreement. Lets stop talking about what the white men are out to take but what we can gain from things that God allow to happen in our lives.
EVEN I KNOW THAT MANY BLACK PEOPLE HAVE DIED JUST TO ATTEND COLLEGE. AND NOW JUST BECAUSE YOU CAN GET IN YOU NOW HAVE SOME PEOPLE WHO WOULD..’ RUN FROM TROUBLE” AND..’ GIVE UP OTHER PEOPLE RIGHTS”.. SAY WELL WE GOT IT!!.”IF IT’S GOD WILL.. LET THE CHIPS FALL WHERE THEY MAY”…”FERRELL”…”FAKE ASS QUEENEFUA”..”RA969A”….”KAY-OH”….”LONDON”..”MARKUS DORST”…”KIMBERLY”..JUST BECAUSE WE HAVE IT DON’T MEAN THAT IT CAN’T BE TAKEN AWAY!!.AS LONG AS WE HAVE PEOPLE LIKE..” MR THOMAS” IN OFFICE WE HAVE TO STAY ON TOP OF WHAT WE HAVE GAINED AS..” AFRICAN AMERICAN PEOPLE”!!.AND THAT INCLUDES BLACK COLLEGES… STAY AWAKE STAY ALIVE!!
So what do Black colleges really provide that one can’t get from a more “integrated” school. If a Black college becomes of a University system how does that undermine the Black college?
1.) the curriculum should be roughly the same in either case unless Black colleges teach something else… if so, why do they?
2) if it is a cultural issue and Blacks need to be with Blacks then why do we need to be segregated from other ethnic groups and races?
3) Why isn’t there a Chinese or Latino University… Why do we need to continue these segregated systems…
The answer may point to the problem we have in how we think about race and culture.
my previous comment was regarding the housing only so please do not lump mine together with everyone else. i didn’t say to not get a college degree, or anything about what people don’t have; but that a degree is not necessary just to own a house (directed to Queen’s comment). it takes money, being responsible and fully knowing what you are walking into. if you don’t pay your house note (mortgage) then you will lose it, simple. if you don’t have a house then it can’t be taken away from you, again simple. if you aren’t sure about something ask. if you feel you haven’t gotten a full answer/explanation then, again, do your own research. if you’re still not comfortable then don’t do it. get past the excitement of being a homeowner and be realistic. as another commented – know what you have to work with. come up with a monthly household budget so you know what your limit is for a house payment. it helps because then you can see where the unnecessary spending is and where you can cut back. in these times it will help you anyway.
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LONDON….NUMBER ONE YOU LIVE IN ..”LONDON”..AND WILL NOT FULLY UNDERSTAND ..”AFRICAN AMERICAN CULTURE”..YOU JUST HAVE TO BE BORN HERE AND LIVED THROUGH THE TRAILS AND TRIBULATIONS WE HAD TO ENDURE . I GUESS YOU DON’T HAVE A CHINIESE OR LATINO UNIVERSITY BECAUSE NO ONE WANTED TO BUILD ONE. AS LONG AS YOU HAVE DEMAND YOU WILL HAVE TO SUPPLY, SO UNTILL.. “AFRICAN AMERICANS” ..GIVE UP ON..” BLACK COLLEGES”.. AND WE STILL WANT AND CAN FUND BLACK COLLEGES WE WILL HAVE THEM!..AND BY THE WAY YOU DO HAVE OTHER CULTURES GOING TO AFRICAN AMERICAN COLLEGES!
Well, as it’s said, “If it sounds too good to be true”! Just another way for Blacks to bbe scammed. Many didn’t know their interest rates or that their mortgages would be sold over and over. The American Dream has always been an American Nightmare for most Blacks!
are you kidding me ? what does this have to do with skin color? its easy buy a house then pay for it , dont understand ? your too dumb to own a home.
HBCU’s were build for and by african americans in a time when we were discriminated against and was not able to attend any other college. Not because we did not make the grade but because we were not allowed or it be known(too many of us) to be smarter than our white counterparts.
Why now when we still say the first african american president elect, do you believe that we have overcome. To give up and give in to this would be totally ludicris. Has change will come but it hasn’t yet!!!
As far as the mortgage crises, like anything else in life read the fine print…
The mistake was those that believed that interest rates would not rise and that their mortgage would stay the same for the next thirty years…do the math.
Start standing for something and fstop falling for everything.
Lynn
Maybe you can enlighten me… A Black university that is in demand must be solvent to stay in business. But sounds as if there is a money problem… so consolidation with a larger university seems reasonable… that does not mean a black college couldn’t retain some of its original identity…. Oxford U. has a number of colleges within and many are purpose-based… however that identity is largely based on academics not race/culture.
I would venture that this comes down to some issue of “preserving” culture primarily. While the color of ones skin does not suggest a common culture there is a shared history for some and to them it is important that be preserved. Some might feel that “inegration” at some point threatens culture… that would explain the racial and religous enclaves that spring up across the US and UK and other countries… birds of a feather essentially…
Now, some may also be threatened by being thrown into a “larger pool” especially if they feel at a disadvantage in terms of gaining admission, getting grants or loans, etc… I’m sure some believe if a black applies to a largely black university the odds of acceptance go up
LONDON… YOU CAN TURN ALL OF THAT AROUND AND SAY NOW THAT AFRICAN AMERICANS ARE IN THE SPOT LIGHT. THE FOCUS WILL BE ON EDUCATION AND REVISING THE SCHOOL SYSTEM. MONEY AND BETTER TEACHERS WILL ALSO BE SHARED WITH BLACK COLLEGES MAKING THEM JUST AS COMPEITIVE AS ANY OTHER INSTITUTION. THAT MEANS ANYBODY AND EVERYBODY WILL BE LOOKING AT BLACK COLLEGES TO ENROLL INTO . NOT BECAUSE IT IS A BLACK COLLEGE BUT BECAUSE YOU CAN GET THE SAME EDUCATION AND A DIFFERENT EXPERIENCE AND FOR OTHER CULTURES MABE A CUT IN TUITION FOR BEING THE MINORITY.
I graduated from three white universities, I previously worked at black and white universities and I currently work at a white university. That being said; I’ve seen higher education from both sides as a student, staff, and faculty member. I believe there is a need for HBCU and the ones being run poorly need to be revamped not eliminated.
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