Guest commentary by Diamund White, Student Organizer at San Francisco Rising; Editor’s note: At press time, president Biden announced his plan addressing student loan debt
Graduating from a Pennsylvania public high school with average grades and coming from a low-income family, I never thought that I would have the opportunity to go to college and get a degree. In 2018, only 37% of Black youth enrolled in college. As a Black student myself, higher education didn’t seem plausible without having to take on debt. I had seen my mother struggle with her own variations of debt, and the thought of adding a similar burden onto myself in order to attend college didn’t seem like a wise choice at the time, especially given that Black women already graduate with more debt, and don’t earn as much as their counterparts in the workplace.
I vehemently believed that the debt I would accumulate wouldn’t be worth it.
It wasn’t until I relocated to San Francisco when the opportunity to study for free was presented at my doorstep…or technically in my mailbox when I received a flyer about Free City College for San Francisco residents! The thought of getting a college degree at no cost felt godsent, giving me the chance I’ve always dreamt of.
After being a part-time student for a few semesters, I began my full-time journey into studying, but later came to realize the burden of also needing to work multiple jobs wasn’t sustainable. Then the pandemic happened and I lost the only stable and consistent job I had. I was left with a decision to either move back with family, or to take out loans for housing to keep me afloat. There are no CCSF on-campus housing units, which would have provided a safer and affordable option for me to live in while trying to accomplish my studies. So, I was forced to start the process of taking out loans.
Fortunately, I was blessed enough to get a job during that process. While I didn’t end up taking out the loans, this is a common issue many Black women and other people of color contend with when needing support to stay in college.
I started speaking with other students about their college debt experience, and learned that the high cost of college and ever-increasing living expenses had impacted our communities on a larger scale than I had realized. The overwhelming experiences I heard from BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) and low-income students with taking out loans was a jolting revelation that the problem I foresaw as a teenager, afraid to take on debt to go to college, unfortunately wasn’t just a problem unique to my situation.
Those who take out loans to keep attending college are all met with the same obstacle – we do not make up the 2% of those who qualify for “debt forgiveness” programs. We make up the 98% of student debt holders who attended a broken higher education system because we were told we need a college degree to make it in life, with no option but to take on a high-interest loan that leaves us buried in debt. We hold on to the hope that we can graduate within 4 years, and one day have an equally well-paying career as our white counterparts, buy a house in San Francisco (which is now far long from attainable), start a family, or experience what it’s like to go on vacations regularly for good mental health. Instead we are working day-in and day-out as community organizers, dog walkers, baby sitters, store clerks, weekend assistants, and tutors alongside of being caretakers of siblings and family members, all while going to school for what was sold as the path towards the “American dream.”
Student debt cancellation will mostly benefit BIPOC and low-income debt holders unlike our white counterparts who end up paying off their loans the fastest. This is because we were never able to accrue generational wealth due to our country’s long history of racist practices.
San Francisco Rising’s student organizers like myself have been working to gain traction in the student debt cancellation movement after coming to the understanding of how deeply racist the debt system is. We’ve called on our elected leaders like the Board of Supervisors and Representative Nancy Pelosi to support student debt cancellation.
From talking to our neighbors about this issue, we know that cancelling student debt is not only the morally right move to make, but it would also open the door to opportunities that our communities never had before.
There are less than 2 weeks until the moratorium on student loans is up. President Biden needs to take action now!
We can no longer wait to live without these financial shackles and be freed from the heavy burden of student debt. We deserve the same chance at joy and success that our white, and wealthy counterparts have.
In order to uplift our BIPOC and low-income communities from the margins we’ve been forced into, we must create bold changes to repair the harm that has been done to our communities, starting with student debt cancellation for ALL, making higher education free, and providing safe and free housing for all students.
Sign up to volunteer with San Francisco Rising now, as we continue to fight for free college for all and student debt cancellation.
One voice is hard to hear, but with many, it’s a symphony for change.
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