I recently spoke on a panel at a Northeastern University Law School Symposium with my colleague, Susan Grossberg (and a big hat-tip and “thank you” to the staff of the Northeastern University Law Journal being such wonderful hosts). An interesting perspective came up on the panel (by someone other than Susan). I call it “interesting” because it’s a way of describing not only how narrow it was, but in my opinion, how wrong. The issue: who is really affected by the subprime debacle? The issue arose through another participant with a legal services background. The speaker believes that those most affected by the subprime mess are those minority groups who were targeted by lenders: African Americans and Hispanics in low income neighborhoods.
Before I continue, have some familiarity with my perspective. My first law job was in law school clerking for an immigration firm. I learned I didn’t like immigration law. My second job was as an intern the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination in Springfield. I focused on housing and public accommodations discrimination claims. I liked the job a lot.
After I left Hartford and came back to Massachusetts to hang up a shingle, my practice focused on, among other things, civil rights. When I hung my shingle, much of my work was claimant-side ERISA litigation on behalf of health care providers. I was litigating health care treatment and compensation issues when Hillary Clinton was First Lady. Since then, I have litigated employment discrimination cases at MCAD and in court. My point is this: I’m not blind to the civil rights struggles faced by individuals in protected classes: whether it be the right to be left alone in the work place, the right to rollerskate while wearing a religious head scarf, or the right to medical treatment.
Yes, minority groups were targeted by lenders and their agents, and yes, it is unfair. But the people that come into my office are not all minorities, nor are they people who have low-income zip codes. People from all over are facing the real prospect of losing their homes. People from all over are facing a difficult reality: their life as they know it, is changing…and they are discovering that they really have only so much control over it. These people come from all walks of life. All neighborhoods. All towns. All economic backgrounds.
Thus, I believe that it is myopic to suggest that the subprime mess affects only minority groups, or to even imply that minority groups should receive some sort of special consideration in formulating an appropriate legislative or regulatory response. The subprime mess affects us all, and if anyone reading this disagrees with me, then you’re simply not looking hard enough at what’s really going on out there.
I fear that in the months and even years ahead, we may hear more and more from those who believe that the subprime mess falls on the shoulders of one or two groups of people. I believe that attempting to limit the impact of the subprime fallout on one or two groups only divides us even more. The country’s economic mess is not about race, nor was it born out of any racial divide. To explore this crisis – and give it the attention it deserves (which means to not only put band-aids on it, but also to make meaningful decisions that will give us some reasonable assurance that history will not repeat itself) – means to discuss and debate the important, complex and difficult issues that fed it. And they are important. They are complex and they are difficult….for all of us.
For the students and guests who saw me bang a table in response to my hearing such tripe, I’ve got the last word here: do not let the important discussions of how we got into this mess, and perhaps more importantly how we can get out of this mess be tainted by the inflammatory (and completely inaccurate) premise that the economy of this country is going to hell-in-a-hand-basket because the subprime crisis is just the result of a failed race-based lending policy. At the risk of stealing the thunder from Attorney General Holder’s recent proclamations: that tactic reeks of cowardice.
Those People
I was recently chatting with an old friend who was sharing with me her recent trials and tribulations. She is on unemployment – has been for a while - and trying to sell her house. Her house is not priced to sell – but priced in line with what other houses in her neighborhood are going for… and are also not selling. She has also made some regrettable financial and life decisions that have lead her to the place she now finds herself in. It’s not a judgment – it’s more of an observation. Some of what she’s experiencing was avoidable. Some of it – like the unemployment, wasn’t. She asked me for my advice.
As I started offering some suggestions (among them, dropping the price on the house), I could tell she was getting upset. She then took a deep breath and said “you know, I’m not like those people you represent. Those people in bankruptcy.”
There was this period of awkward silence – I don’t think it was particularly long – but it was long enough for me to think something more serious than “really, Blanche. Really?” but not as dramatic as “oh. my. gawd!”‘
“Those people,” I said – and I could feel my eyes widening.
Being good friends, we could tell that we both hit a nerve in each other and we silently retreated to our respective corners. I did not have it in me to say what I wanted to say then.
I do now.
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Tags: Commentary, debt, Economy, Homes
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