Associated Press
- NAACP President Derrick Johnson criticized Joe Biden's exclusion of student debt cancellation in his budget.
- Johnson said the racial wealth gap can't be closed without addressing the student debt crisis.
- In April, the NAACP joined 35 civil rights organizations in calling for $50,000 in debt cancellation.
- See more stories on Insider's business page.
On the 100th anniversary of the Tulsa Race Massacre, President Joe Biden unveiled plans to address the racial wealth gap in the country. But those plans did not include student debt cancellation, which the president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) called a missed opportunity.
"While many components of President Biden's budget appear to be encouraging, when it comes to addressing America's racial wealth gap, it fails to address a key issue at the core of the racial wealth gap, the student loan debt crisis," Derrick Johnson, president of the NAACP, said in a statement.
To help narrow the racial wealth gap, the White House released a fact sheet on Tuesday outlining plans to end racial discrimination in the housing market, help disadvantaged small business owners, and retrofit transportation, among other things. This followed the release of the president's first budget proposal last week, which Insider reported did not include campaign promises concerning student debt cancellation and healthcare. This disappointed many advocates, including Johnson.
"Student loan debt continues to suppress the economic prosperity of Black Americans across the nation," Johnson added in his statement. "You cannot begin to address the racial wealth gap without addressing the student loan debt crisis. You just can't address one without the other. Plain and simple. President Biden's budget fails to address the student debt crisis."
Insider reported in April that 36 civil rights organizations, including the NAACP, were calling on Biden to cancel $50,000 in student debt per person to close the racial and wealth disparities in the country that put borrowers "on the brink of financial devastation."
The organizations released civil rights principles for student debt cancellation that "will help Black and brown borrowers build wealth and enable our economy to move forward as millions of Americans are able to start families, buy homes, and set up small businesses."
They also noted that upon graduation, Black borrowers typically owe 50% more than white borrowers, and after four years, Black borrowers owe 100% more. Canceling $50,000 per borrower would eliminate student debt for 75% of all federal borrowers, including full cancellation for 85% of Black borrowers and 96% of Latino borrowers in the lowest income quintile.
While Biden has asked the Education and Justice Departments to review his authority to cancel $50,000 in student debt per person, he has not released a timeline for the completion of these reviews, and Democrats are maintaining pressure on the president for him to quickly cancel student debt and provide immediate financial relief.
"Student loan cancellation could occur today," Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren told Insider last week. "The president just needs to sign a piece of paper canceling that debt. It doesn't take any act of Congress or any amendment to the budget."