MEMPHIS, TN -Yesterday-The Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) held a news conference to announce their upcoming national convention which starts on July 20 to July 23 in Memphis. The news conference was held at the National Civil Rights Museum and it began with the SCLC leadership praising the decision by Memphis to compensate the sanitation workers.
Most troubling about the conference was the fact that the current SCLC President Charles Steele Jr. a former Alabama Senator announced that "civil rights was is a business." Most who viewed the conference felt the recent announcement further proves how much this SCLC has spiraled downward from the mission of the original SCLC.
Rightfully, while most christian organizations and financial watchdog groups who have been worried about the poor tend to be very uncomfortable with this industry. Tragically,The SCLC leadership is openly advocating for people to patronize "payday loans." While there may be forms of payday lending that are ethical, the major concern is that most such lending is predatory, and that the industry overwhelmingly takes advantage of the poor blacks and others who are in financial distress.
On a Video which showed first appeared February 16, 2017 in the S.C.L.C Today Video (below) on their own Youtube page-Steel discussed the support of payday loans.
The first complaint against payday lenders is their high prices: The typical brick-and-mortar payday lender charges $15 per $100 borrowed per two weeks, implying an annual interest rate of 391 percent! That’s highway robbery expensive, to be sure, but is it unfair?
After reviewing the video-A group called The National Association for Social Justice released the following statement:
This was one of the weakest presentations of the condition of poor people I have ever witnessed. The interest rates are astronomical and Payday Loan agents are nothing by blood suckers, sucking the life out of poor people. For him not to address the predatory nature of the companies and to let the large banks off the hook, demonstrates that he lacks the wisdom and understanding Dr. King had. In addition, why did he suspend that President in Louisiana for calling for a Boycott to address a police killing of another black man? He suspended that brother because he threatened to boycott Wal-mart which had given him some money for his convention. He sounds like a hypocrite!!
If one would ask the question-what makes a payday loan a predatory loan? The obvious answer would seem to be “high interest rates.” It was reported recent news reported that black communities, across the country are being critically affected by the labor market. Black and Poor people are struggling to find employment in cities like Chicago, DC, and New York where the crime rates are high and the probability for employment is low.
Several million African Americans have been turning to pay-day loans as a quick resolve to low income issues. With high unemployment rates, unpredictable daily crises, and vulnerable desperate people, the pay day loan industry has grown into a billion dollar industry.
Here's and except from an article that first appeared on the Federal Reserve Bank of New York site.
Except for the 10 to 12 million people who use them every year, just about everybody hates payday loans. Their detractors include many law professors, consumer advocates, members of the clergy, journalists, policymakers and even the Barack Obama the former US president! (Below is an example how it works):
Suppose Jane borrows $300 for two weeks from a payday lender for a fee of $45. If she decides to roll over the loan come payday, she is supposed to pay the $45 fee, and then will owe $345 (the principal plus the fee on the second loan) at the end of the month. If she pays the loan then, she will have paid $90 in fees for a sequence of two $300 payday loans.
The SCLC of Dr.Kings day was a civil rights organization that worked to gain equal rights for African Americans and other poor minority groups through nonviolent civil protest and community development programs. The SCLC also focused on internal problems of the black community, including poverty and drug abuse. Most SCLC affiliates today are church and civil rights groups. Membership in the SCLC (now dwindling) is open to all, but most of the organization's leaders are black Protestant ministers.
With that in mind, there are many people who are very disappointed that The SCLC President Steele seemingly chose to air negative financial views then associating those views with the SCLC before the nation." The organization is being further weakened by several schisms, including the departure members of the King Family at least three of the King Children and their followers (with in the past several years) who left amidst unnecessary turmoil and confusion mostly stemming from a disagreeable board.
**UPDATE**
Tragically in 2008, the SCLC formed a partnership under Steele and others with CompuCredit a subprime lender-conceitedly the Federal Trade Commission sued the company for unfair and deceptive trade practices, as well as violating the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. The FTC alleged that CompuCredit bilked consumers out of at least $217 million through a scheme in which consumers paid so much in fees that they rarely had any credit available on the company’s Visa cards. We are unaware if the organization still has ties with CompuCredit or now known as Atlanticus Holdings Corporation.
Currently, there are about 22,000 payday lending locations—more than two for every Starbucks—that originate an estimated $27 billion in annual loan volume. As Charles Steel Jr. stated during the five minute video-"I'm in the position to defend poor people." The question of the hour to Charles Steele jr. is, "seriously, are you really defending poor people, or is it time to reevaluate? (glg)
Gregg L. Greer a Public Speaker, Minister, Social Activist, Economist, and the Editor of the One World internet journal. Greer is the Founder of Freedom First International-if you are interested in interviews from his and others of the brightest minds today, you can email him at oneworldtoday@gmail.com His website is www.gregglgreer.com