April 29, 2018

Mental Illness, Stigma, and Blacks
By Glenn Ellis

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - Since 1949, the month of May has been recognized as Mental Health Month.

With African Americans leading the country with troubling statistics in areas like unemployment, child abuse and neglect, and domestic violence, all of which can exacerbate stress, it is perhaps not surprising that the African American community leads the country in mental-health struggles.

There’s no getting around it, institutional racism is a leading cause of mental illness in African Americans.

In the early 1970’s, the final report of the Joint Commission on Mental Health of Children acknowledged that racism was, for some, America’s “number one public health problem.”

Granted, it’s not the only cause, but racism can psychologically affect Blacks by allowing society to deny their value as individuals, and by compelling them to internalize the racist conceptions of themselves. Racist stressors may also lead to increased physiological reactivity which, when sustained for a period of time, can lead to cardiovascular disorders and diseases.

For African American adults, perceived racism may cause mental health symptoms similar to trauma and could lead to some physical health disparities between blacks and other populations in the United States, according to a study published by the American Psychological Association.

Most Americans, particularly African Americans, underestimate the impact of mental disorders. Many believe symptoms of mental illnesses, such as depression, are “just the blues.”

Often, African Americans turn to family, church and community to cope. Forgiveness and grace are, indeed, hallmarks of the Black Church. In one study, approximately 85 percent of African Americans respondents described themselves as “fairly religious” or “religious”, and prayer was among the most common way of coping with stress.

African-Americans are 20 percent more likely to report having serious psychological distress than Whites, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Minority Services. Yet, adult African-Americans, especially those with higher levels of education, are less likely to seek mental health services than their White counterparts.

Historically, African Americans have normalized our own suffering. During slavery, mental illness often resulted in a more inhumane lifestyle including frequent beatings and abuse, which forced many slaves to hide their issues. Over time, strength became equated with survival and weakness (including mental illness) meant you might not survive. That stigma still exists today.

Growing up I was always told to read the Bible, or pray to "get over" feelings that I now know were depression. In adulthood, I have learned that it's okay to not be okay.

African Americans may be resistant to seek treatment because they fear it may reflect badly on their families–an outward admission of the family's failure to handle problems internally. For many African Americans who suffer from mental disorders, most hold negative attitudes about people who obtain mental health care. No matter how bad their situation was, they didn't want to be one of "those people."

Many African-Americans, especially those who’ve ascended the socio-economic and professional ladder in the face of institutionalized racism, struggle with feeling compelled to be strong. Some are so socially isolated that they feel they can’t trust anyone or share anything and must go it alone.

Mental illness takes many forms; therefore, the issues those battling mental health face often go unseen. For some Black celebrities with mental health issues, life is often filled with tragedy and triumphs while engaging in a private and public battle. We go to their concerts and appearances; buy their music; stay glued to the television for the season’s hottest series. We watch African American celebrities and public figures on the world stages entertain and inspire us every day, yet we pay no attention to the signs and symptoms that they are suffering in silence. Only once they spiral out of control, often into total self-destruction, do we began to wonder “if something is wrong”.

Like many things that influence us, hearing about the challenges with mental illness by celebrities and public figures in our community has been helpful in “breaking the silence”. Serena Williams, Oprah Winfrey, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, and Former US Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr. suffered from depression; Michael Jackson was said to have a condition which caused a negative pre-occupation with body image; Nina Simone suffered from bipolar disorder, as do Chris Brown, DMX, and Mike Tyson; Don Cornelius committed suicide; even Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. suffered from depression and was suicidal.

Kanye West wisely sought, and received, mental health treatment.  Is he really that different from the rest of us? Probably not as much as we’d like to think.

A cultural shift is needed to foster a climate in which friends and loved ones can seek non-judgmental support for a mental health condition. Education about mental disorders and the treatment process is a critical to reducing barriers to treatment among the African-American community. Suggestions for overcoming this barrier include public education campaigns, educational presentations at community venues, and open information sessions at local mental health clinics.

This could make the difference in helping others feel empowered to get the help they may need. Remember, I’m not a doctor. I just sound like one. Take good care of yourself and live the best life possible!

The information included in this column is for educational purposes only. It is not intended nor implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice.

Glenn Ellis, is a Health Advocacy Communications Specialist. He is the author of Which Doctor?, and Information is the Best Medicine. A health columnist and radio commentator who lectures, nationally and internationally on health related topics, Ellis is an active media contributor on Health Equity and Medical Ethics. Listen to Glenn, every Saturday at 9:00am (EST) on www. wurdradio.com, and Sundays at 8:30am (EST) on www.wdasfm.com. For more good health information, visit: www.glennellis.com

April 22, 2018

 

Predatory Lending is the Tip of the Iceburg

By Julianne Malveaux

 

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is supposed to “protect” consumers from fraud and predatory lending.  But since 45 has ruled the roost, he has empowered exploiters to extract too much money from consumers. 

 

And he has exposed himself to implicit bribes, which is why the Consumer Financial Services Association of America was meeting at the Trump National Doral Golf Club from Tuesday April 17 to Thursday April 19, 2018.  The payday lenders, who describe themselves as the “small dollar credit industry, offer loans at an annualized interest rate of as high as 600 percent, have been lobbying to loosen regulations against their industry. 

 

As they met in Florida, they focused on the fact that the Florida state legislature had planned to allow them to lend more, at higher interest rates, in the interest of exploiting more poor people, mostly Black and Brown folks.

 

I went to Orlando and Miami as the guest of the National Faith and Credit Roundtable; a group of religious leaders who are disturbed about the many ways payday lenders are able to exploit poor people.  The stories they tell are harrowing – about a woman who borrowed $500 to fix her car so that she could go to medical appointments, and then found herself paying more than $6000 – 12 times the amount she borrowed—over 2 years, and still needing intervention to stop her enormous payment.  I went to hear ministers use the Bible to talk about the many ways that usury is seen as an abject sin.  I went to Orlando and Miami because I wanted to bear witness to the work “woke” pastors are doing to forward the agenda of social and economic justice.

 

If this were only about Florida, it might not merit my attention.  But Florida is Missouri, is New Mexico, is Nevada, is California, is Wisconsin, is Michigan.  Each of these states have very loose regulations for payday lenders, which means that folks are charging as much as 600 percent for these “small dollar” loans.  The challenge is that desperate people go “small dollar’ but offer their car, their next paycheck, or even their home, as collateral.  If the payday lender can go into your bank account to pay, all your other bills stand in the back of the line.  How to close the gap?  Take out another payday loan, and another, and another.  Your small $500 loan grows exponentially.  And nobody is looking out for you.

 

So the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau offered a rule to curb in payday lenders.  And now, with the 45-inspired leadership, CBFB is considering rescinding the consumer-protective rule.  This isn’t the only way that CPFB has been curtailed from protecting consumers.  In 2013, CPFB issued guidance about the legal risks of dealer markups and the ways that discrimination pushed Black and Hispanic folks into higher interest rate loans than their white counterparts.  Toyota, Honda, Ally Financial and others were sued because borrowers of color paid much higher interest rates than their white counterparts.

 

Now, there is a move to repeal the 2013 rule, just like the move to repeal the predatory lending rule.  It will take the Senate to repeal the consumer protecting rules, but the sentiment is not to protect consumers.  In state after state, there is a sentiment to make it easier for payday lenders to exploit.  And in state after state, there are those who would make it easier for the CPFB to relax rules against discrimination in lending.

 

These payday lenders are tricksters.  They call themselves the “Consumer Financial Services Association”, wording amazingly close to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.  They push themselves out as an industry association that manages “best practices” in “small dollar lending”.  They engage in the most pernicious form of lobbying, even purchasing the support of “civil rights leaders’ who argue that people have “the right’ to enter into financial enslavement.  And their high-rolling golf games at a Trump resort is a wink and a nod to the many ways this administration is ripping off poor people.

 

The new leadership of the Consumer Financial Protection Agency has been pressured to relax payday-lending rules.  Several states have bowed to the pressure to support the payday lender that exploit low-income, mostly Black and Brown, communities.  In Florida and Michigan, and in other states, there are harrowing stories of people being exploited because payday lenders have a legislative pass.  This flies in the face of the notion that the poor should be protected from extreme usury, but it is perfectly consistent with the focus of this corrupt administration.

 

Julianne Malveaux is an author and economist. Her latest book “Are We Better Off? Race, Obama and Public Policy” is available via www.amazon.com for booking, wholesale inquiries or for more info visit www.juliannemalveaux.com

April 23, 2018

 

U.S. Senate Votes to Revoke Protections on Anti-discriminatory Auto Loans

 By Charlene Crowell

 

 

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - America is often touted as a nation of laws, and not of men. But it seems that today some lawmakers have no interest in upholding laws that mandate fairness in financial services – particularly when consumers of color are affected.

 

On April 18, the U. S. Senate voted 51-47 in support of S.J. Res 57, a joint resolution to revoke the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)’s 2013 guidance on indirect auto lending. The previous day, the Trump Administration issued a statement in support of the rollback.

 

Among those voting against the resolution was Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal who issued a statement following the unfortunate vote.

 

“Perpetuating predatory practices that lock consumers of color into higher auto loan interest rates doesn’t just harm those individuals, it exacerbates ethnic and racial wealth disparities that feed into the deep inequality that exists in our country today,” said Blumenthal.

 

But Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky welcomed revisiting auto lending regulation. "Our whole economy is getting a tune-up. And now it's time for the front end of the auto industry to come along for the ride," said McConnell in a related article.

 

What the senior Senator from Kentucky does not seem to know is that consumers of color, especially Blacks and Latinos, already know too well how it feels to be taken on the wrong ride in auto finance.

 

Scrutiny is also warranted for the 51 Senate colleagues who agreed with Majority Leader McConnell. In fact, among Senators serving as co-sponsors of the ill-advised resolution were representatives of Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Indiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Nevada, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Wisconsin. In all, 22 Senators lent their names and influence as co-sponsors.

 

The Senate vote came five years after CFPB’s blueprint for lenders and auto dealers underscored standards set by the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA). This act makes it illegal to discriminate due to race, or other protected classes in credit transactions. Under ECOA, indirect auto lenders (those who finance loans through dealers) are creditors and must uphold the law.

 

Following a long history of documented discriminatory effects in auto finance, CFPB acted in 2013 to provide clear guidelines to lenders on how to avoid discrimination going forward. Following the guidance, CFPB, jointly with the Department of Justice, reached a series of settlements totaling more than $140 million with Ally Financial, Fifth Third Bank, and the financing arms of auto manufacturers Honda and Toyota—all because their pricing models showed discriminatory effects on borrowers of color.

 

The odds of predatory auto finance increase when consumers of color are involved. For years, consumers suspected and then began to complain of unfair practices in auto finance. By the mid-1990s, a series of related lawsuits were filed, all alleging that consumers of color received higher interest rates than those given to similarly-situated white borrowers. Oftentimes, the higher rates charged to borrowers of color were not related to their creditworthiness. This contention was documented earlier this year by the National Fair Housing Alliance. This housing advocate’s investigation found that better qualified non-White testers participating in an investigation of auto lending would have paid an average of $2,662.56 more than less-qualified White counterparts.

 

Now multiply that average over-payment by the millions of people who rely upon auto dealers to provide a finance package for their purchase. Nationwide, an estimated 80 percent of auto loans are financed through auto dealers. Dealers are also allowed to increase the interest rate on auto loans, and keep some or all, of the padded costs that typically range an additional 2.0-2.5 percent above the actual lender’s rate.  As a result, affected consumers wind up being bilked out of $25 billion over the life of auto loans made during a year.

 

Personal transportation can be the difference between accessing employment, health care, educational opportunities, or even day-to-day living needs. In many locales, owning a car is the only way to reliably reach these and other destinations.

 

Auto finance is also the third largest category of consumer debt, after housing and student loans. With rising purchase prices, many auto financers offer extended payments of 72 months or longer to sell consumers an “affordable” monthly payment. Should finance and interest charges be predatory in nature, affected consumers can wind up paying more in interest than for the value of the vehicle.

 

Regardless of the next proposed regulatory rollback, one thing is clear: Civil rights and consumer advocates will remain united and dedicated to fair and equal lending.

 

“Charging people of color more money for their auto and financing is not only immoral, but it’s illegal and it drains a family’s household income,” said Wade Henderson, Senior Advisor at the Center for Responsible Lending. “This important guidance should stay intact.”

 

“Our elected leaders should look for ways to keep consumers from being discriminated against instead of making it easier for them to be preyed upon,” noted Samantha Vargas Poppe, Associate Director of Policy & Advocacy, UnidosUS. “CFPB’s guidance addressed these financial abuses and should be supported by Congress, not repealed.”

 

“For more than 109 years, the NAACP has worked to remove discriminatory barriers to equal protection and equal opportunity under law,” noted Hilary O. Shelton, Director, NAACP Washington Bureau and Senior Vice President for Policy and Advocacy. “Our fight to strengthen and implement crucial protections to limit and end racial discrimination in lending is as important today as when we were founded in the early 20^th Century.”

 

In the 21^st Century, the journey towards justice must continue.

 

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Charlene Crowell is the deputy communications director with the Center for Responsible Lending. She can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

April 22, 2018

Business as Usual

By Dr. E. Faye Williams, Esq.

(TriceEdneyWire.com) – After hearing that two Black men were arrested at a Starbucks restaurant, we were told that some Black people were actually shocked. I was not. I guess I’ve seen too many other businesses doing similar things or worse in all areas of the country—not just down South. Remember Flint and the water crisis? We’ve generally given some cities too much credit for being enlightened. We forget that our union has never been perfected when it comes to Black people.

Starbucks in Philadelphia isn’t the only place such insults have happened. Applebee’s once falsely accused two Black women of not paying for meals. Denny’s paid out $54 million for a racial discrimination settlement and recently had workers wait and then asked to prepay for their meals. IHOP has asked Black teens to pay for their meal before being served. Cracker Barrel had 40 people in 16 states allege they were denied service, assigned to segregated service, were served food from the trash and were subjected to racial slurs.

I am sure these have not been the only racist acts through the years, and many of us have been subjected to one racist act or another. Most of us can tell when we walk into a place if we are welcome or not. So, why are we shocked?

There is a solution to such racism. What shocks me is that we continue to patronize places of business that show us no respect. It would seem to me if we know in advance or if we experience racist behavior in a place, we would no longer patronize that place.

There are many great Black restaurants around the country for us to spend our money. We don’t have to go if it has already been shown that we’re not wanted and not respected. It’s time for us to cut the complaining and begin spending our money where we are respected and where we can build our businesses and create jobs in our community. I know I am not the first to say this, but it seems we need to be reminded from time to time that we do have choices. We will never get everybody to agree. Many will continue spending money to build other people’s businesses who take the money, but don’t want us to hang around. Some would probably go back to serving us through the back window again if they thought there were no consequences.

Sure, there are some good non-Black businesses, and we can tell if our business is appreciated by what others give back to our community to show that appreciation.

Let us stop being shocked by racism. It’s been with us all of our lives because we tolerate it. As Dick Gregory always advised us, let’s wake up and stay woke. Let’s do something positive to better our community by building something positive where everyone is welcome! To those who are shocked by racist behavior, patronize a non-racist business, and be proud that your patronage helped to build it.

I am sorry Rashon Nelson and Donte Robinson for what you went through and that you feared for your lives but having a seat at the Starbucks’ table is not the only answer as far as I am concerned. Since you said that you are potential businessmen, why not start your own business now? How about a Rashon and Donte coffee shop? Stop even wondering if what happened is your fault. That is what racism would have you believe. Don’t succumb to that. Racism is not your fault. Dealing with it in a positive manner is your responsibility. Supporting your business is our responsibility.

(Dr. E. Faye Williams is National President of the National Congress of Black Women, Inc. and Radio Host of “Wake Up and Stay Woke” on WPFW FM 89.3 in Washington, DC. 202/678-6788. www.nationalcongressbw.org)