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Why Student Loan Debt Cancellation Is A Racial Justice Issue

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Borrowers are currently waiting with bated breath for a decision by the Biden Administration regarding whether there will be a cancellation of student loan debt; a decision is expected sometime this month. The Trump administration initially paused interest for federal student loans back in March of 2020 when the Covid-19 pandemic hit the United States. Interest payments have been paused for over two years but are expected to resume at the end of August. During his 2020 presidential campaign, Biden committed to forgive $10,000 for each borrower. The country now waits to hear whether the Biden administration will continue to pause student loan interest. There is currently $1.6 trillion in outstanding student loan debt, which does not include private loans. What makes student loan debt so harmful is that though not impossible, it’s difficult to get them discharged when filing for bankruptcy. Student loans can follow a person their entire life and some private loans can even be passed on after death. The equation becomes more complicated when considering the effects that student loan debt can have on a person’s ability to own property. For many millennials, hefty student loan payments make purchasing a home nearly impossible.

Black Americans have been and continue to be harmed by the legacy of chattel slavery. The restoration process must include an acknowledgement of the harm caused, while simultaneously creating systems and supports designed to address and repair this harm. A 2011 article by Jorge Rivas indicates that students of color are less likely to be awarded with private scholarships compared to white students. 10 years later, these disparities still exist. A 2021 report found that in the U.S. white students at public universities are 2.5 times more likely than Black students to graduate. When imagining what reparations for Black Americans could look like, we must consider the role that student loan debt forgiveness could have on the average Black borrower. Some experts argue that student loan debt forgiveness would narrow the racial wealth gap. Given the fact that Black borrowers owe a higher amount, on average, than their white counterparts, perhaps a greater amount of student loan debt should be forgiven for Black borrowers. It must be noted that these methods, while great in theory, may be challenging to actually implement but something must be done to alleviate the burden that borrowers are currently facing. Many borrowers initially took out loans before they were able to vote or legally drink alcohol. In a New York Times piece, Ron Lieber wrote that student loan borrowers deserve an apology rather than forgiveness. Lieber writes “teenagers go to college because we tell them to...and for decades we’ve failed these students over and over.”

A May 2022 Washington Post report indicates that one third of student debt is held by those aged 25-34. When breaking down the debt statistics even further, Black women hold the highest amount of student loan debt on average and are also the most educated demographic in the U.S. “Student loans have always been there as a reminder that I’m not done with what I’m trying to achieve,” shared Ellen Noel. Noel currently works as a travel nurse and graduated from nursing school in 2011. “You wanna buy a house or a condo, a new car or invest in a side business, you have to put up money you may have, and also pay your student loans on time. If you don’t, they could go to default, which can hurt your credit score and your future for borrowing money,” Noel explains. For many Black millennial women, student loan debt has cast a shadow on their life opportunities. “I am often unsure how I will pay back my student loan debt, much less live a somewhat enjoyable life with rising costs of living,” shared Candace Parrish. Parrish is a 34-year professor and business owner who earned her Ph.D. in 2016. She goes on to explain, “having student loan debt has altered my life decisions as I move with extreme financial caution. I have chosen to delay having kids, purchasing a home, and investing because I am unsure of how my quality of life will be with high student loan debt...I know for sure that if my student loans were cancelled, I would see an exponential change in my buying power and in my expansion in life in general.” Similar sentiments were echoed by Kimberly Stanfield, a 35-year-old pharmacist who graduated from pharmacy school in 2015. “Coming from a Black southern family with slave ancestry, my grandparents never made it to college, some didn’t make it past elementary school.” Stanfield was the first in her family to earn a doctorate degree. “Once it was time to work and pay for student loans, the debt was ridiculous...some even tripled since my undergraduate degree. I worked tons of overtime to pay off my private loans but didn’t put a dent in most of the federal loans because it was $10,000 plus, a year, in interest.”

Given the multitude of ways that student loan debt negatively impacts Black borrowers, it should be of the utmost importance for the current administration and future administrations to figure out ways to support borrowers. Student loan debt cancellation is a racial justice issue. Black women are routinely called on to “save America” but are we simultaneously trying to save Black women? Part of restoring and rehabilitating our country from its racist past requires understanding the ways that historical harms have and continue to marginalize different communities. Student loan debt is a huge impediment for much of the American population and has the most harmful impact on Black women borrowers. We understand the ways that student loan debt can limit opportunities, but what are we, as a country going to actually do to remedy this issue? Our actions must speak much louder than our words.

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