EDITORIAL
Women and subprime loans
Published Nov 4, 2007 10:13 PM
Another facet of the war on women in the United States was exposed in an Oct. 22
Boston Globe column by Anita Hill, who noted that the subprime housing loan
crisis is disproportionately affecting women. The crisis has affected millions
of working class people whose homes have been foreclosed, and exacerbated a
general economic crisis that has now spread across the globe.
It’s not just that more women are purchasing homes, which they are. The
column cites studies by the Consumer Federation of America and the National
Community Reinvestment Coalition that show women receive less favorable loan
terms for home purchase, refinance and home improvement than men with similar
economic status. The Okalahoma Journal Record reported in 2006 that,
nationally, women were 32 percent more likely to receive subprime mortgage
loans than men. (Dec. 8)
If this wasn’t enough to show the discrimination of these predatory
lenders, Hill points out, “The studies also show that the gap between
women and men receiving subprime loans actually increases as women’s
income increases.”
Women of color face the same double oppression in the housing market that they
face throughout U.S. society. WW has previously noted that a disproportionate
number of those relegated to subprime loans are Black and Latin@. But Hill says
evidence suggests that across all loan types, African-American and Latin@ women
are charged higher fees and rates than same-race men and white men, regardless
of income.
The war on women—which manifests itself in the continued offensive
against reproductive rights; war abroad; lack of pay equity; sexual harassment
in the military; poverty and the denial of social services; raids and
detentions of immigrants; attacks on people of color and lesbian, gay, bi and
trans people; and so much more—must be seen as an integral component of
capitalism and U.S. imperialism, which attempts to sow divisions amongst
workers along race and gender lines in order to further exploit them.
Just as women can be seen at the lead of many anti-imperialist struggles, the
war against women must be put at the forefront of the anti-imperialist
movement. Its defeat will come with the end of the system that oppresses us
all.
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