Cordray Appointment Vital For Minority Communities

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By Rep. Andre Carson, (D-Indiana). Representative Carson is a member of the congressional black caucus.

Earlier this week, President Barack Obama stood before an excited crowd in Shaker Heights, Ohio to boldly announce his appointment of former Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray as the first Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).

This announcement came not a moment too soon.

For the last few years, millions of Americans have been struggling to overcome the devastation caused by the abuses of an under-regulated financial system. Hard-working men and women have struggled just to put food on their tables and clothes on their children’s backs.

In their desperation to make ends meet, many have fallen prey to payday lenders, check-cashing outlets, and fly-by-night tax refund companies. Under the guise of offering short-term help, these companies’ anti-consumer practices have pushed thousands of families further into debt.

Americans needed an advocate to stand up to these companies, and in Richard Cordray, we now have a proven leader, dedicated to doing just that.

Nowhere is Mr. Cordray’s efforts more needed than in the African-American community.

In 2010, the American Sociological Review published a study showing since the 1990s, predatory lending has specifically targeted minority communities. According to the study, which included data from the 100 largest U.S. metropolitan areas, payday and tax refund lenders, as well as check cashing outlets, have located themselves disproportionately in minority neighborhoods.