Color of Money

ing 13% more in property taxes each year than a White family would in the same situation. “We document widespread racial inequalities in the U.S. property tax burden,” the economists conducting the study concluded.

Job discrimination and pay inequality has resulted in Blacks earning less than Whites.

Institutional racism has prevented Black businesses from getting bank loans.

On this last point, the National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC) and researchers from Utah State, Brigham Young and Rutgers partnered to send testers to 32 bank branches representing 17 randomly selected financial institutions in the Washington, D.C. metro area. Researchers wanted to see how Black business owners might be treated in seeking pandemic-related relief.

The NCRC teamed up with the universities to determine whether the disparities in small business lending that were present before the covid-19 pandemic continued during the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), which was aimed at helping small businesses retain employees. Testers had similar credit profiles. The only major difference was race.

In 43% of the interactions with the financial institutions, White testers received more favorable treatment than Black testers, the researchers found, which is a violation of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act.

The unfair treatment like the researchers found with PPP creates the ideal selling point for pyramid schemes. Promoters argue that they are helping build wealth in the Black community in a way that isn’t subject to familiar forms of racial discrimination.

“It’s a very attractive pitch because there’s an underserved community that’s been blocked out of things,” said Maryland Securities Commissioner Melanie Lubin. “But they’ve taken the name of a sou-sou and stapled it to a pyramid.”

Although the people encouraging you to join an illegal sou-sou are right about the economic injustices Blacks have historically and presently face, their answer to correcting the problem is wrong.

There are better and more legal ways to right the wrongs Blacks have endured. Read the Urban Institute’s report: “What would it take to overcome the damaging effects of structural racism and ensure a more equitable future?”

There is a right way to build wealth in the Black community but participating in one of these schemes is not one of them. It’s selfish. Your actions, even if you make money, will result in financial losses of Blacks who get into the scheme late in the game and this is as unjust as the discriminatory practices promoters rail against in their recruitment efforts.

Readers can write to Michelle Singletary c/o The Washington Post, 1301 K St., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20071. Her email address is michelle. singletary@washpost. com. Follow her on Twitter (@SingletaryM) or Facebook (www.facebook. com/MichelleSingletary). Comments and questions are welcome, but due to the volume of mail, personal responses may not be possible. Please also note comments or questions may be used in a future column, with the writer’s name, unless a specific request to do otherwise is indicated.