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"This is a very odd question for the article to ignore." It didn't ignore that question. It said that blacks have much lower net worth than whites, so they ha

"This is a very odd question for the article to ignore." It didn't ignore that question. It said that blacks have much lower net worth than whites, so they have fewer resources to draw on to pay bills than whites. "why can't some greedy person go collect these debts and get rich?" Because the debtors have little money to collect. You can't squeeze water from a rock. However, the article does point out that many of the plaintiffs have purchased the debt and are now collecting it, which would seem to qualify as the "greedy person" looking for the "business opportunity" that you mention. "I don't quite understand what this article is attempting to claim. Can someone clarify it for me?" The thesis is stated right in the headline and sub-headline.

yummyfajitas 11y ago
Your first paragraph suggests that blacks are more delinquent than whites. Is that your intent? Or do you mean something else? Your second paragraph makes no sense. Do black people but not white people have money to pay debts? That would seem to contradict your first paragraph. Remember, I was asking (predicated on the idea that there is some unfairness) why people would collect debts owed by blacks but not whites. If the headline is the sole thesis, that's fine. I guess I thought the article was hinting at some kind of unfairness, rather than merely the fair application of debt collection processes being applied to disproportionately delinquent black people.
- DanBC 11y ago
  Imagine poor white people and poor black people have similar levels of debt. Now imagine the poor black people are subjected to vastly more police stops and prosecution and fines (even though crime levels are similar). Those poor black people now have to pay money to courts or go to jail, which means they can't service the other debt, which means their debts are sold off to aggressive debt collectors.
  - yummyfajitas 11y ago
    If black people did commit crimes at a higher rate than whites, this might contradict your narrative... You also seem to be postulating a large amount of undetected and unprosecuted criminality among all populations. Why do you believe this is the case?

yummyfajitas 11y ago

Your first paragraph suggests that blacks are more delinquent than whites. Is that your intent? Or do you mean something else? Your second paragraph makes no sense. Do black people but not white people have money to pay debts? That would seem to contradict your first paragraph. Remember, I was asking (predicated on the idea that there is some unfairness) why people would collect debts owed by blacks but not whites. If the headline is the sole thesis, that's fine. I guess I thought the article was hinting at some kind of unfairness, rather than merely the fair application of debt collection processes being applied to disproportionately delinquent black people.

DanBC 11y ago
Imagine poor white people and poor black people have similar levels of debt. Now imagine the poor black people are subjected to vastly more police stops and prosecution and fines (even though crime levels are similar). Those poor black people now have to pay money to courts or go to jail, which means they can't service the other debt, which means their debts are sold off to aggressive debt collectors.
- yummyfajitas 11y ago
  If black people did commit crimes at a higher rate than whites, this might contradict your narrative... You also seem to be postulating a large amount of undetected and unprosecuted criminality among all populations. Why do you believe this is the case?