Possible loan forgiveness would benefit Latino students
04 April 2021
The Education Department has suspended the collection of certain federal student loans that borrowers defaulted on, while Democratic senators insist that the relief bill has a provision that could facilitate canceling many more student loan debts through a tax break.
Why it matters: Latinos tend to have more problems repaying school debt, and in the current situation face growing stress and anxiety before even accounting for repayments.
- Many have had to drop classes to work, to care for relatives or because they cannot afford tuition, and students of color are more likely now to say they will not graduate on time. Some have even become homeless due to campus closures.
By the numbers: Since before the pandemic, about 23% of Hispanic college grads who had taken out loans for tuition and school expenses were behind on their payments, in contrast with 6% of white student borrowers, per Federal Reserve data.
- Estimates also show that 12 years after graduation, on average, white borrowers had been able to pay off 90% of their debts, while Latino student borrowers still owed around 80% of what they took out to afford tuition.
This story first appeared in Axios Latino, a weekly collaboration between Axios and Noticias Telemundo.Sign up here.
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.