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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (May 18, 2016)
Page 2 The Skanner May 18, 2016 Challenging People to Shape a Better Future Now Bernie Foster Founder/Publisher Bobbie Dore Foster Executive Editor Jerry Foster Advertising Manager Christen McCurdy News Editor Patricia Irvin Graphic Designer Arashi Young Reporter Monica J. Foster Seattle Office Coordinator Susan Fried Photographer 2015 MERIT AWARDS WINNER The Skanner has received 20 NNPA awards since 1998 The Skanner Newspaper, es- tablished in October 1975, is a weekly publication, published every Wednesday by IMM Publi- cations Inc. 415 N. Killingsworth St. P.O. Box 5455 Portland, OR 97228 Telephone (503) 285-5555 Fax: (503) 285-2900 info@theskanner.com Opinion Google Bans Payday and Other Predatory Loan Ads F or more than a decade, broad-based coalitions at both the state and federal levels have united con- sumer advocates, labor, cler- gy, civil rights champions and others in calling for an end to predatory lending. Although 16 states and the District of Columbia effectively ban pay- day lending, the majority of the nation is still subject to triple-digit interest rates ap- plied to debt trap lending. Even in states that have in- terest rate caps on payday loans, the small-dollar loan industry has tried a series of legislative maneuvers, or even attempts at voter up- dates through ballot initia- tives to overturn laws. In oth- er cases, lenders have moved to longer-term versions of the typical two-week payday loan as yet another financial vul- ture preying upon working class citizens. This week a global corpo- rate giant took decisive action against payday lenders and others that charge triple-digit interest rates. Google, the Internet’s lead- ing search engine, announced that effective July 1 it will ban ads for payday loans and oth- er loan products that require full repayment within 60 days. “This change is designed Charlene Crowell NNPA Columnist to protect our users from de- ceptive or harmful financial products,” noted Google in its corporate blog. David Graff, Google’s Direc- tor of Global Product Policy went a step further adding, “We have an extensive set of policies to keep bad ads out of “ “Banning predatory payday loan ads shows that Google is willing to put people before profits,” said Wade Hender- son, President and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. “This new policy addresses many of the long-standing concerns shared by the entire civil rights community about predatory payday lending… This ban puts payday loans in their rightful place along- side explosives and tobacco as dangerous products that deserve the highest level of scrutiny from regulators and Banning predatory payday loan ads shows that Google is willing to put people before profits our systems and we take these policies very seriously. In particular, financial services is an areas we look at very closely because we want to protect users from deceptive or harmful products.” What Google termed a ‘poli- cy change’ triggered a jubilant refrain from academicians, civil rights and consumer ad- vocates. From their collective views, the decision was a pivotal breakthrough in the fight for financial justice for all. businesses alike.” “Unscrupulous payday lenders prey on the most vul- nerable, including millions in communities of color in neighborhoods across Amer- ica,” noted Janet Murguia, President and CEO of the National Council of La Raza. “This is a terrific example of how civil rights organiza- tions and tech companies can come together to help protect the rights of all Americans online.” “The Internet should not be www.TheSkanner.com The Skanner is a member of the National Newspaper Pub lishers Association and West Coast Black Pub lishers Association. All photos submitted become the property of The Skanner. We are not re spon sible for lost or damaged photos either solicited or unsolicited. ©2016 The Skanner. All rights re served. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission prohibited. Local News Pacific NW News World News Opinions Jobs, Bids Entertainment Community Calendar RSS feeds CAREERS SPECIAL EDITION PUBLISHES JUNE 1, 2016 #SkNews a place that profits from your weaknesses,” said Alvaro Be- doya, Executive Director of the Center on Privacy & Tech- nology at Georgetown Law. Each year, over $3.4 billion in excessive fees are drained from the pockets of payday borrowers, according to the Center for Responsible Lend- ing (CRL). Over 75 percent of these fees are generated by borrowers trapped in 10 or more loans a year. Other CRL research find- ings show that: • Nearly one in four payday borrowers rely on retire- ment or public assistance as a means of income; • The national average APR for payday loans is 364 per- cent, and often rates are much higher; and • Payday borrowers are more likely to become delinquent on other bills, delay medical care, and, in the worst sce- narios, file for bankruptcy. “I think this action is as un- precedented as it is signifi- cant,” said Keith Corbett, a CRL Executive Vice President. “By removing ads that lure finan- cially-strapped consumers into unaffordable, long-term and costly debt traps, Google is displaying what corporate citizenship looks like. CRL’s hope is that others will soon follow suit.” Blackonomics: The Black Community is Bleeding to Death T here is a crisis of mon- umental proportion in our so-called “Black com- munities.” A crisis that if not checked will prove to be our demise. We are bleeding so badly that we are in a coma- tose state and on life support right now. But we still have a strong heartbeat, so we can be revived by those who have the financial and intellectual talents and the willingness to make the requisite indi- vidual sacrifices necessary to restore us to a more healthy state. A cadre of individuals, not featured in the dominant me- dia, is devoted to leading the charge for economic empow- erment among Black people. These brothers and sisters are not afraid. They are not ashamed of being Black. They are not hiding behind organi- zations and in corporations; they are strong and unwav- ering in their message of eco- nomic empowerment. Yes, we are bleeding pro- fusely, brothers and sisters, and we must stop the bleed- ing, not with a Band-Aid but with stitches. Our life-blood — our dol- lars — are flowing out of our neighborhoods. The profes- sionals call this phenomenon “float” or “expenditure leak- age,” which translates into what the experts at the Brook- James Clingman NNPA Columnist ings Institution called a “mar- ket opportunity to provide competitively priced goods and services to inner-city consumers.” A 1999 report issued by the Center on Ur- “ der-served neighborhoods and was positive in its ap- proach to suggesting ways to effect much needed change. Nevertheless, my take on this issue conjured up visions of massive hemorrhaging, and it very strongly suggest- ed that we need to stop the bleeding. The report com- pared one of Chicago’s South- side neighborhoods to the affluent northern neighbor- hood of Kenilworth. It stated, “…urban neighborhoods like Our life-blood—our dollars are flowing out of our neighborhoods ban and Metropolitan Policy, written by Robert Weiss- bourd and Christopher Berry, cited some glaring and, quite frankly, embarrassingly stark statistics that portray Black people as nothing more than “economic opportunities” for others. Please note the report was not casting aspersions on Black folks, rather it was sim- ply pointing out some facts about inner-city neighbor- hoods and their consumers and suggesting ways that businesses and government entities could better serve the residents as well as their own interests. It stressed investment opportunities within un- South Shore in Chicago have more buying power than the wealthiest of suburbs. South Shore’s median family in- come was $22,000 back then; Kenilworth’s was $124,000. But South Shore had $69,000 of retail spending ‘power per acre,’ nearly twice that of Kenilworth’s $38,000.” That means inner city residents, despite their tremendous re- sources, are virtually bleed- ing to death. Literally mil- lions of dollars are leaving our neighborhoods, which in turn, also negatively affects our employment opportuni- ties. It continued, “For busi- ness, this translates into lost sales, or what marketers call ‘float dollars.’ For inner city residents, these are ‘float jobs,’ as crucial dollars that could employ local residents and fuel the neighborhood econo- my are spent elsewhere.” The only thing that has changed during the last six- teen years is our collective annual income, which is much higher. The problem is that we don’t learn from in- formation like this and use it to improve our situation. We are bleeding, brothers and sisters, and our blood is Type O, the “universal donor” — everybody benefits from it. We have EMTs ready, willing, and able to apply the tourni- quets and even to stitch up our wounds. It’s up to us, how- ever, to access their expertise, to follow their instructions, and to take the prescriptions they write for us. If we are going to stop the bleeding, if we are going to put an end, once and for all, to the preventable loss of life blood — our dollars — from our neighborhoods, we must make the changes being rec- ommended by our true eco- nomic leaders. We must consider our “spending power per acre” as cited in the Brookings Report, just as others are considering it and gaining a stronger eco- nomic foothold in the billions Black people earn and spend each year.
