Question

"Sub-Prime as a Black Catastrophe," Melvin L. Oliver and Thomas M. Shapiro
The catastrophe described by Oliver and Shapiro is rooted in the fact that home equity is the most important source of wealth for families in the United States. The authors argue this is particularly so for African American families. It was the targeting of African American families by sub-prime lenders that robbed so many of this important and hard-earned source of security.
Due to the very high interest rates charged for these loans, the devastating effects of these sub-prime loans has not only taken away gains made in the recent past, but will compromise the ability of African American families into the future, effecting the ability to open small businesses, pay for college educations, and support retirements. Predatory loans have left African American communities facing, "the greatest loss of financial wealth" ever. "Institutional and racialized policy," they argue, "are trumping hard-earned educational, job and income advances."
According to Oliver and Shapiro, "no recent economic crisis better illustrates the saying,"When America gets a cold, African Americans get pneumonia" than the sub-prime mortgage meltdown." What do they mean by this?
a. African Americans are biologically prone to catching pneumonia more so than other Americans.
b. Any crisis suffered by Americans in general is less of a problem for African Americans.
c. African Americans react more dramatically to crisis than other Americans.
d. The sub-prime mortgage meltdown hurt African Americans more deeply than it hurts the country at large.

Answer

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