Congressional representative Ayanna Pressley and others introduced a resolution for the Department of Education to forgive up to $50,000 of student loan debt for American borrowers.
The executive order has been presented to President Biden, who made campaign promises to forgive at least $10,000 in federal loan debt for all Americans. And guess what else?
Those in support of the measure are actually simultaneously doing something about the racial wealth gap. How?
The student loan debt crisis is a burden overwhelmingly endured by Black Americans. Not only are Black borrowers graduating with loads more debt than their white counterparts, they’re struggling to make on-time repayments.
Biden has the power to help. And to his credit, he has – by extending the interest and payment freeze on federal loans through September 2021. But it’s not enough.
“This debt holds people back from buying cars, from going on vacation, from starting families, from getting the job they want to get. It’s a huge anchor on our entire economy. And there’s very little that the president could do [to] ... boost our economy more than canceling $50,000 of student debt,” Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer said in a press conference.
Indeed, it could be that simple – and because of that we have every right to keep the pressure on the President to make relief happen!