CANCELING STUDENT DEBT IS A MATTER OF RACIAL JUSTICE
By Sonali Kolhatkar
“ If America has a cold , then the Black community has the flu ,” said India Walton , explaining how the burden of student debt is disproportionately borne by African Americans . Walton , who famously campaigned on a socialist platform to beat a Democratic incumbent in last year ’ s mayoral primary race in Buffalo , New York , is now a senior strategic organizer with RootsAction . org leading the organization ’ s “ Without Student Debt ” campaign . “ Fortyseven million Americans carry student debt , but the burden of the debt falls disproportionately on Black and Brown people ,” she said .
According to the Education Data Initiative , out of the 47 million Americans that Walton cited , about 92 percent of them ( 43 million Americans ) have borrowed more than $ 1.6 trillion from the U . S . government in order to access higher education . The average federal loan size per borrower is $ 37,113 , but when factoring in loans from private borrowers , that number rises to more than $ 40,000 .
Because how the income and wealth gap is so starkly delineated along racial lines , it ’ s not at all surprising that Black and Brown students are disproportionately represented among student borrowers . Women are also the majority of borrowers . Those at the intersection of race and gender are most impacted . “ The average Black woman
53 x The Trial Lawyer The Trial Lawyer x 53