Economic Racism--Discrimination Against Black Consumers

By
Julianne Malveaux

In a California branch of a major department store, a Black woman tried to return an item but was surprised to learn that store clerks had been instructed not to accept returns from Black people.

Some realtors routinely steer Black families away from housing in white neighborhoods.

Maybe you've had a similar experience--sales clerks, for example, who assume Black people can't afford certain merchandise or are much more likely to be shoplifters. In other cases the assumption is that Black homeowners aren't good neighbors or can't afford housing in expensive, predominantly white neighborhoods.

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Black and Latino Women Get More High Cost Loans than Anyone

Women are Prime Targets for Subprime Lending:
Women are Disproportionately Represented in High-Cost Mortgage Market
by
Allen J. Fishbein and Patrick Woodall
for Consumer Federation of America, 2006

Women are more likely to receive subprime mortgages than men. These gender
disparities exist across mortgage product lines.

Women with the highest incomes have the highest disparities relative to men with similar incomes than women at lower income levels. The gap is especially pronounced for women of color.

African American and Latino women have the highest rates of subprime lending. Moreover, African American and Latino women with the highest incomes have much higher rates of subprime lendingthan white men with similar incomes.

The Consumer Federation of America (CFA)
study found these patterns of subprime gender disparity exist for home purchase, refinance and home improvement lending.
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How Being Black and Female Affects Your Health

How Being Black and Female Affects Your Health

Health care is the most important purchase you will ever make. It pays to be an informed consumer.