Thread by @michaelharriot

Just say "White people."

The people upset about this proposal don't factor in the racial biases of the student loan industry or how they benefit.

Here's why they should be happy.

A thread:

First of all, we have to recognize that simply being Black means you are more likely to incur student debt.

Why?

Well, white workers are paid more than black workers with the same education & experience EVEN AT THE SAME LOCATION

Let's not even get into the fact that whites benefit from GENERATIONS of stolen wealth.

No, I'm not talking about slavery.

How about all those post-slavery years where Blacks paid taxes for K-12 schools and colleges only whites could attend?

How about those New Deal programs that excluded Blacks from the low-interest mortgages, farm loans and business loans that built the white middle class?

For instance, SC was a majority-Black state until 1940, with 7 state-funded colleges that banned black attendance BY LAW

Or what about the GI Bill?

After WWII, thousands of Black soldiers were denied the GI Bill.

This was Black taxpayer money that WE WORKED HARD FOR.

THEY WERE STEALING OUR MONEY to build white generational wealth.

But I said I won't get into it.

How does this play out?

Well, notice that college borrowing damn near mirrors wage inequality!

Would you look at that!

So it makes sense that Black students owe a little more money than white students, right?

WRONG!

12 years after college, the average Black student loan borrower owes MORE MONEY THAN THEY BORROWED.

How?

Well, even though Black students borrow a little more
Even though Black grads are paid less
Even though they are less likely to be hired...

There's another factor at play:

See, financial institutions charge Black people more to borrow money. It's true in mortgages, car loans and every sector of the financial industry, even when they factor in creditworthiness

Which is why I laugh when people say "Obama didn't do anything for Black people." The Obama administration sued the five biggest banks and auto lenders for discrimination.

And what did the Trump administration do?

They rolled back all of those protections.

Could it have been more?

Sure.

But "nothing, though?

Anyway, in 2019, the Student Borrower Protection Center decided wanted to see if this was true for the student loan industry, so they submitted loan applications to refinance college loans for a fictional student.

They didn't even reveal the borrower's race. EVERYTHING was exactly the same except for the fact that one school was an HBCU (Howard), one school was majority white (NYU) and one school was predominately Hispanic.

Guess what happened

You know what happened.

In 3 years, the Black student would have paid $3,500 more than an IDENTICAL white student with the same job and income.

But who pays off their student loan in three years?

I know: Someone who gets PAID MORE. Someone who gets HIRED EASILY.

This isn't racism.

We can't know whether or not the entire financial industry hates Black people or believes them to be inferior.

But what do you call the indisputable fact that political, education and financial INSTITUTIONS place a quantifiably SUPERIOR value on WHITENESS?

Well, there is only one accurate term that can describe it.

INSTITUTIONAL WHITE SUPREMACY.

And who would be mad at a policy that eliminates that?

I'm sure you can figure that one out for yourself.