It's not just Chicago's poor neighborhoods that are getting hammered by a growing increase in mortgage foreclosures. Wealthy and solidly middle-class neighborhoods — Lincoln Square, Portage Park and Lincoln Park among them —are taking a hit as well.
Check out foreclosures in your neighborhood.
And tell me, how has the mortgage meltdown affected your hood?
Mark Konkol covers city neighborhoods for the 
What's amazing is that if you read sunday's controversey about how middle-class blacks believe that poor blacks are the problem and that race was not important. And you read another story in the same paper tells about how mortgage companies dummied blacks and latinos into subprime mortgages even when their income AND credit were superior to that of whites and asians. I think it was written that many blacks making $100,000 were getting worse deals than asians making $35,000. So race doesn't matter, correct? Maybe, if some of these white-owned lenders who made these bad deals felt the same way, we would have less of a situation to deal with now.
Like any good capitalist, banks operate on getting away with as much as they can without getting caught. Nobody forces middle-class black people with good credit to accept loans with unfavorable terms. There are thousands of lenders that blacks, latinos, asians, and whites can go to for their loan needs. It's called competition, and if you shop around, compare loan terms, rates, etc., then eventually you'll find something that you will feel comfortable with. And if not, then maybe the time isn't right for that person to buy a house. So, no, race doesn't matter. What matters is people taking more responsibility for their finances. If a person with good credit and good income gets caught up in a bad loan, then that's their fault. Using the race card doesn't work in this instance. In fact, does it ever work???
"Nobody forces middle-class black people with good credit to accept loans with unfavorable terms. There are thousands of lenders that blacks, latinos, asians, and whites can go to for their loan needs. It's called competition, and if you shop around, compare loan terms, rates, etc., then eventually you'll find something that you will feel comfortable with."
I'm sorry man; but by choosing not to read completely, you played right into my race-bating hands. The minority homeowner who was interviewed made it clear that he went to numerous different lenders. Each time he was given a PRIME rate. When it came time to close, the dealer switched his deal to SUB PRIME. These home-owners did fight for their cause, but if every lender you go to is racist, you don't really have choice do you?
Using the Racism is Dead card doesn't work in this instance. Your argument is false.