By Samhita • 16 years ago

Glad they got the memo: Subprime lending crisis hurts women.

For activists and organizers that work on issues of displacement, jobs and housing, it is not exactly news that the subprime lending situation has had a malign effect on working class women and women of color in low income communities. They are usually first in line to fall prey to predatory lenders and usually the most viable customers of such loans. According to this morning’s NYT women of color in Baltimore have inevitably been the first to be effected by foreclosures.

For each of the last four years, more than half of the foreclosures in this neighborhood have been homes owned primarily by women, according to an analysis of public records by the Reinvestment Fund, a nonprofit community development organization.
The foreclosures threaten the neighborhood’s fragile stability. And they highlight a broader dimension of the housing meltdown: subprime mortgages, which are driving the foreclosure rate, have gone disproportionately to women.

Although this is not surprising, it shouldn’t be ignored either. The trend in subprime lenders engaging in predatory lending practices have targeted low income people, making their living off ruining other people’s financial lives (and I speaketh from experience). Debt has been normalized in communities of color and working class communities, it is assumed the only way you can live is in debt. The debt we are accruing, we will not pay off in this generation. The damage being done has serious long-term consequences for disenfranchised communities.

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By Nia Evans • 6 years ago

Dear Betsy DeVos: Fighting for Survivors of Sexual Violence Is a Racial Justice Fight

For the past few months, I’ve seen several articles — almost exclusively written by white women — arguing that we shouldn’t enforce Title IX protections for survivors of sexual assault because the authors believe Black men are more likely to be accused. The narrative has been picked up by numerous media outlets and used by Education Secretary Betsy DeVos to strip protections for survivors.

The idea that survivors’ rights are a threat to Black men leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

Let me be clear: that’s not because I’m not worried about race discrimination in school discipline. We have no data to support the argument that Black men are more likely to be accused of or ...

For the past few months, I’ve seen several articles — almost exclusively written by white women — arguing that we shouldn’t enforce Title IX protections for survivors of sexual assault because the authors ...