Latina Lista: News from the Latinx perspective > Palabra Final > Diversity > Conservatives who blame minorities for economic meltdown should get their facts straight

Conservatives who blame minorities for economic meltdown should get their facts straight

LatinaLista — Now that the House of Representatives has signed off on the $700 billion rescue/bailout plan, people are breathing a sigh of relief that credit will finally start loosening up to get those car and college loans. They’re also doing what should have been done a long time ago — looking at what caused the mess that made passing this bill not just necessary but imperative.

Unfortunately, when looking at what caused this mess — the granting of subprime mortgages — conservative politicians and commentators are running to blame Latinos and blacks for the financial meltdown.
According to them, if it wasn’t for the fact that Latinos and blacks qualified for home loans under the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA), which was specifically set up to grant loans to people who have historically been denied homeownership, then none of this would have happened.
Well, only in a conservative’s world where people of color are made the easy scapegoats for what goes wrong in this nation, can this be true. When time is taken to look at the facts, the truth emerges and it’s a whole lot different than what conservative pundits are saying or want us all to believe.


For starters, it’s not just the risky borrowers who are at fault but the risky loans created by predatory lenders. When it comes to loans created under the CRA, while some of those loans did contribute to the Wall Street mess, it wasn’t anywhere near to blame as conservatives like to say it is.
In fact, only 20% of the subprime loans in 2006 were issued by CRA banks.
However, it isn’t a coincidence that most of the people caught up in subprime mortgages are people of color and poor. The majority of people who live below and at the poverty line are people of color. Reports have long documented how the poor have been targets of predatory lenders.
Why?
Because they lack education. They don’t know how to shop around for a mortgage, comprehend the fine print or even calculate what the loan will cost them beyond the first year — and they gullibly believe that their mortgage lender has their best interests at heart.
Where’s the logic in blaming poor people for the excesses and greed of the rich and elite?

John Taylor, president and chief executive of the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, an umbrella group that promotes access to credit and affordable housing, said such claims “are on the level of Swift boat advertisements, except they are even less factual.”
“People who are saying this don’t understand lending, but they sure do understand the political process,” he said. “They are trying to blame the victim, which is an old strategy that moneyed corporate interests always employ.”
Profit, he said, was the motive.

We can only wonder what the motive is for these conservatives to cast this hateful and racist blame. The very people they are blaming are the ones hurting the most and losing the homes they have poured their heart, sweat and hopes into.
These conservatives who blame these people are less interested in a unified country but seem intent to drive a wedge between races and economic classes. If it weren’t so pathetically true, it would be a great plot for a science fiction novel.
These conservatives who are blaming poor people just don’t want to take responsibility for their own party’s actions that led to this fiasco where greed bulldozed over ethics. In the Bush Administration, the examples of where this has been the norm makes it no wonder that those who could and would followed the example set in Washington.
While the $700 billion will begin the financial mending of our free market economy, the partisan rhetoric that has surfaced is only making the healing of this country more difficult and underscoring that even though it’s the year 2008, it feels more and more like the 1960s.

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Comment(10)

  • Irma
    October 4, 2008 at 5:30 pm

    The 700 billion dollar bailout was necessary but
    whether or not it will have any long term effect on the economy will not clear for at least a few years. In the meantime add that amount of money to the national debt ! Social Security as we know it will not be there for me ,a baby boomer or for my nephews and nieces. The
    new president whoever he will be , is faced with a mess. We can only hope that they will not make things worse. In the meantime, as citizens we can do our part by not living on credit. Pay off the entire balance of your credit card each month,
    walk instead of driving if feasible etc. The only Republican idea that makes any sense to me is
    the concept that less government is better for everyone. Too bad , neither George W. Bush or any one else seems to understand that.

  • hran
    October 4, 2008 at 8:02 pm

    “… these conservatives to cast this hateful and racist blame.”
    A good drinking game: whenever the brown nationalist says “racist”, everyone drink!

  • Evelyn
    October 5, 2008 at 1:26 am

    Intent on showing ignorance:
    Saoirse aka Michaela aka sorryazz
    Longtime Poster
    Joined: 30 Mar 2008
    Posts: 2134
    Posted: Fri Oct 03, 2008 9:17 pm Post subject:
    [quote=”mixbreed”][quote=”usa today”]Keep in mind
    That just as before the bailout , there is not one penny of money for a home loan for Joe American who has one late payment on his credit score
    But billions will be available for every illegal in America with no
    proof of ID ,
    This is it , bottom line[/quote]
    Which will only put us in a worse situation than we already are. [/quote]
    What I keep wondering is if the NCLR or Maldef or MecHA got any of this bailout money
    HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! OMG!

  • Liquidmicro
    October 6, 2008 at 4:17 pm

    Still posting stuff from a different web site?? This crap doesn’t belong here, Evelyn. Argue it on that web site. How about deleting this crap again Marisa.

  • Evelyn
    October 8, 2008 at 2:23 pm

    So you think it’s OK for Marisa to post sorryazz’s posts of me from another forum on this blog, but it is not OK for her to post mine of sorryazz even though that post refers to this blog! Yeah, I get it!

  • Liquidmicro
    October 8, 2008 at 8:29 pm

    What did Michaela post other than stating she was calling you out and questioning your statmenes at HB of why Frank left?? http://www.latinalista.net/palabrafinal/2008/08/trying_to_decipher_hillarys_true_message.html
    You have posted, making accusations of??, under what you perceive as her presumed name from modbee, an entire un-applicable post to the topic of this blog. There is a difference between the two, your vs hers. She explained hers in her post, you have explained nothing other than making assumptions, what are your posts of the modbee posts suppose to mean??

  • Evelyn
    October 11, 2008 at 12:40 am

    ??, under what you perceive as her presumed name from modbee,
    I dont perceive anything.
    I am not going to divulge my sources to you.
    I do not associate with criminals or go into forums where everyone there is male.
    sorryazz is cross-posting my comments here over there, if you must know.
    I do as I please.
    You are not my boss.
    Mind your own business!

  • Liquidmicro
    October 12, 2008 at 7:36 pm

    Mind my own business!! Public forum!! If you don’t like the criticism, then don’t post. It’s Marisa’s bandwidth being used for your games, if Marisa allows it so be it, but I have the right to question it and call you on it.

  • Evelyn
    October 14, 2008 at 10:38 am

    Thats right IT’S MARISA’S! ….now mind your own business.

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    February 17, 2009 at 12:07 pm

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