In Your Face

For those that say racism is an exaggerated excuse that no longer limits minorities or non-English speaking individuals that refuse to learn English for their own good get a load of the facts published by The Home Mortgage Disclosure Act of 1975 that makes it mandatory for lenders to maintain and disclose data in relations to their loans. In recent years HMDA numbers vary wildly across racial lines. Black and Hispanic borrowers are more likely to have a subprime loan than Caucasians.

In fact, in 2006, there was a 36% difference with 53% of blacks having subprime mortgages compared to only 17% for Caucasians. In July 2007, the NAACP filed a lawsuit against 14 lending subprime lenders for practicing “systematic, institutionalized racism in making home mortgages loans.” And for the record those that are thinking” most minorities don’t pay their bills anyway”, while reading this blog, consider that in 2006 the Center for Responsible Lending reported when credit risk was equal, blacks were still 31% to 34% more likely to receive a higher rate than Caucasians.

It’s NOT a fair world we live in and affirmative action doesn’t make it an easy environment to prove your skills without regard to quota. I am not saying it IS or IS NOT still needed considering the latest lawsuit filed against NASCAR by former aspiring racing official, Mauricia Grant.


In the lawsuit, Grant said she complained numerous times to her supervisors about how she was treated, to no avail. On one occasion, Grant said Nationwide Series director Joe Balash, her immediate supervisor, was dismissive of her complaints, explaining her co-workers were "former military guys" with a rough sense of humor. "You just have to deal with it," she says Balash told her.

The lawsuit details a series of those alleged incidents:
• Grant was forced to work outside more often than the white male officials because her supervisors believed she couldn't sunburn because she was black.
• While riding in the backseat of her car pool at Talladega Superspeedway, co-workers told her to duck as they passed race fans. "I don't want to start a riot when these fans see a black woman in my car," she claims one official said.
• When packing up a dark garage at Texas Motor Speedway an official told Grant: "Keep smiling and pop your eyes out 'cause we can't see you."
• When she ignored advances from co-workers, Grant was accused of being gay. She also claimed co-workers questioned the sexual orientation of two other female officials.
After her termination, Grant said she went over her notes and recognized "a pattern of retaliation and discrimination."
"It didn't diminish my love for the sport of auto racing, but the job wasn't always the easiest thing to go to every day," she said.


Lets just hope Mauricia Grant gets her fair day in court in our unfair world. Will the balance of the scales be in her favor? Note: Laughing at racist jokes only imples that the humor is acceptable and it is NOT; its offensive.