ISSUE OF THE WEEK XLIX: Bloomberg Businessweek Racist Depiction Of Who Benefited From The Housing And Foreclosure Crisis

'Emerging Markets' was a fancy euphemism for economically challenged groups of individuals who had previously been unable to qualify for home ownership for a variety of reasons. With the diminishment of traditional regulations that had long been in effect in the banking industry, greedy lenders threw caution to the wind and acted irresponsibly when enticing people who could ill-afford properties into home ownership. It was the old case of biting off more than one can chew.

This reminds me of an on campus event I attended. It was about racist ads in the media. Media fueling racism, sexism and biogtry. This is a very disturbing image. Lots of people got help, including middle-class white people when it came to foreclosed houses.

This week I read an article about special education and how parents and schools should be focusing on ways to help all children learn better, not just coming up with individualized learning plans. This came in my mind after reading this article when it compared how many blacks, Latinos, and whites were in danger of foreclosure, or actually foreclosed. I think this is a situation that needs a solution for everyone rather than focusing on a certain race. I cannot fathom any solutions for it, and so my thoughts are probably going to be seen as naive, but everyone needs help saving their homes.

This article particularly struck me as odd, I find that several of the depictions of caricatures like the one in the Bloomberg are unjust and racially demeaning. the Princeton co-author Douglas Massay shows how institutional racism affects areas outside of the institution. the argument reaches out into the housing and foreclosure arenas. I struggle with the ideals of victimizing the victims. perhaps as a society we need to look at the grand scale of why their are so many negative attitudes throughout the world when it comes to power and privilege and who should and will hold down the oppressed. as stated in the article the minority groups are the most targeted and victimized due to low income, bad credit and so forth; is it not our responsibility as humans to live in an altruistic society where everyone loves thy neighbor?

I think that the problem with the housing market rests solely on the shoulders of the banks. Just as the article stated many blacks and Latinos who qualified for prime loans were forced into higher-priced subprime loans. These lenders are setting people up for failure and then portraying their victims as irresponsible borrowers. The fact of the matter is that the majority of loans that are written for blacks and Latinos are done so in a manner which benefits the lender and not the purchaser. When the loans fall through or the loan is in foreclosure it is always easier to place blame on the irresponsible minority than to admit that your lending procedures were the cause of the failed loan. I am not entirely sure that these types of lending practices can be prevented. It really is at the discretion of the bank as to what type of loan you receive unless you familiarize yourself with the housing/banking industry you are at an immediate disadvantage. The only solution I can think of is for borrowers not to jump into the first loan they are approved for and to research the companies that they intend to business with. In my opinion these lenders are predators and are not concerned with whether the loan is paid or not.

This week, I had to explain the bumper sticker "Annoy a Liberal - Work Hard, Succeed, Be Happy" to my 11 year old daughter. She saw it and asked me what it meant. I explained to her the general philosophy of liberals vs. conservatives and how conservatives believed that everyone had an equal playing field so if you worked hard, you will succeed and if you're not succeeding, then it's because you're not working hard enough. She saw through the disparities in that (and we are upper middle class people and her father is white) - "not everyone has it equal though mommy".

This article says it all. When minorities were pushed into sub-prime loans when they QUALIFIED FOR PRIME loans - this is not equality. This is victimization. When this victimization cost them on average $100,000 over the life of their loan - this is not equality. Victimization! The sad thing is that it is systematic racism. This didn't just happen at one bank. It happened all across the lending system.

Blaming the victim isn't unheard of regarding any form of victimization. I'm sure that in some instances (but by no means a large sample) the victim could have inadvertently or otherwise victimized himself or herself. However, in this instance, it's as if the cards are already stacked against minorities. These predatory lenders are ignoring the fact that some minorities qualify for prime loans, and offer the sub-prime loans which end up making it more expensive to own a home which leads to the higher rates of foreclosure. It's a cycle that's difficult to overcome due to institutionalized racism.
I'm a white male, and I have never had to take out a loan, so I'm unfamiliar with the process. I'm unfamiliar with the open racism minorities experience, but at least I'm now aware of it.

So the American dream... that elusive fairy tale told by the middle to upper class of this country that includes owning a house was finally available to those in slightly lower SES. Here was a chance for banks and mortgage companies all across the country to dangle a carrot in front of people who would never have qualified in earlier times. It was a great scheme. Offer them the dream, but charge them through the roof for the dream while making it look like the payments are affordable through special loan packages that required the owner to carry two mortgages. The second of those mortgages, often went from somewhat affordable to completely unmanageable after two years requiring either a refinance or the possibility of skyrocketing payments. If at the time of the refinance, the borrower was no better off than the previous time around, they would get another similar deal and so the cycle went. The homeowners were never able to accrue equity, because it was lost every time they refinanced. Then, when the economy took a dump, these were the first people to lose their jobs making them even more likely to lose their homes. If this sounds like I know a little something about this, it's because I lived it. I had a $12 an hour job and I was given a mortgage on a $150,000 house. There was no way I should have qualified, but with the special financing available, I did. By the time I was forced into a short sale, I owed well over $200,000 on a house I was unable to afford upkeep on so it was a bit in disarray. Oh and I owned my home for 7 years. In that time I should technically have owed a little less and had some equity, but after 3 refinances, I only owed more. Since the latino/a and african-american communities are over-represented in the lower SES, it makes sense that this article focuses on ethnicity. Whether you label it an ethnic or economic status issue, the bottom line is that the banks got greedy and, in the process, set a lot of Americans up for failure. When that bubble collapsed, they chose to blame the very people they exploited. Sounds about typical. Just once a little personal accountability would be nice.

This is capitalism at its “best.” I believe in incentive, I believe it works, and when utilized in an economic system that is non-discriminating–works well. But when there is opportunity for only some and not for others we have the worst scenario for capitalism. When the almighty dollar becomes more important than the individual we fail and we fail epically. Isn’t America’s history one of taking advantage of minorities for profit? Looks like we have really not become as enlightened as we think we have. Accountability is nowhere to be seen, the downtrodden only become more so and those that created this “cluster” run around redirecting the blame to those very same disadvantaged people. Looks like history will repeat itself until we start recognizing the reality from the fantasy.

I found the cover of Bloomberg BusinessWeek to be blatantly racist. I think the greed of financial institutions got out of control. Buying a house is a complicated matter and many people rely on those who work in financial institutions to help them navigate through the complicated process. My husband and I were lucky because his father has worked in finance for many years so we had someone we trusted to help us make sound decisions. I realize that not everyone has that. It is sad that lending institutions were allowed to prey on minorities. I don't know how they thought that their predatory lending practices could last. Eventually it caught up with them and rather than taking accountability, they chose to blame those they preyed upon, in effect victimizing these people twice. What is even worse is that our government allowed this to happen.

I didn't find the cover of the Bloomberg that surprising. I know racism exist and I know people have different ways of expressing it. Usually racism is on the back stage and not on the front. This cover puts it to the front. The housing market is just another way to impose institutional racism on minorities. This just proves that even though many people believe racism isn't an issue that affects us now, it truly does. Racism may have changed its shape and the way it’s executed, but the foundation remains the same. I find it hard to imagine a world without racism because it is generational and those hateful beliefs are continually passed along.

This article is a perfect example of how media plays an important role in the depiction of discrimination. The everyday occurrence of huge white collar crimes were not reported, but what was portrayed instead was the characterization of minorities as being bad decision makers with their finances, therefore personally hurting the economy. What wasn’t told by the media, or those deeply involved in the deception of these loans, was that the loans were never made to be successful. The banks had so much insurance that they were never hurt, but rather benefited from the massive foreclosures. The blame lies with the executives involved in these frauds, rather than those who were duped by the banks. It is a sad time when the victims are portrayed as the culprits and those who are really to blame are held with a higher regard because of their political, economic and racial status.

Racism of minorities through institutions is ongoing. The number do not lie. How is it possible that members of minority groups are given higher rate of loans and nothing is done about this overt institutional racism? This current situation reminds me of the oppression and segregation of whites and minorities after WWII. When the whites in the cities were moving to the suburbs the minorities were unable to attain the same financial backing, realtors refused to sell and African Americans were forced to remain in the downtown core of cities. When the whites moved to the suburbs all of the money for infrastructure went there and the inner-cities became run down and ignored. Is this really so different?

Minority homeowners have been excessively affected by the foreclosure crisis and stand to lose homes at a faster pace than white borrowers. According to the Post Business report “higher unemployment rates in minority communities and traditionally fewer financial resources for black and Latino borrowers to fall back on”. This is true but why is that minorities are not offer any help, especially those with decent jobs and hardworking. I am not surprised that minorities are the major targets concerning foreclosures because it gives the platform for broadcasting such as Bloomberg BusinessWeek to demean minorities with a hideous sketch of the so-called living standards of these individuals. Humanity with racist minds ignites racist mindsets.

to prevent the whole racism is the consciousness that people need to realize it's wrong!