The Subprime Swindle: Economic War on Black America

Posted by Brave New Films, The Nation at 9:22 AM on July 11, 2008.

Nation magazine contributing writer Kai Wright discusses his July 14 article about the mortgage crisis and its affect on the Black middle class. For his story, Wright traveled to Atlanta, Georgia where he met George Mitchell and many others like him who had fallen victim to lending scams and looming foreclosures, a problem that has plagued millions around the country.

Mitchell, age 77, was approached by IndyMac lenders, among others, and was convinced to take out loans he didn't need or understand. He doesn't even remember signing the papers and now faces losing the home he and his wife bought forty years ago.

Wright explains that home equity is one of the main sources of wealth for many middle-class African-Americans who used home ownership as a means of attaining the American dream. Today, that wealth is being stolen from them through predative loans and a national rhetoric of "borrower responsibility."

Watch Wright explain the depth of the problem and what it means for the future of the black middle class.

Tagged as: economy, subprime mortgages, african-americans, housing crisis, george mitchell, kai wright