It’s been a very difficult year for young Americans, from severe, continued disruptions in our learning and violence in schools, to a nationwide mental health crisis. We’ve been constantly pulled in different directions by issues we know will disproportionately affect our futures, without having a place at the table in policy debates about those issues.
Consistently among our most pressing concerns is the worsening student debt crisis — in which 45 million Americans, including myself, now owe $1.7 trillion in loans.
As a Black, first-generation law student, I’ve been incredibly proud and grateful for the opportunity to continue my education. But after graduating from my institution in May, the joy and pride I have in this significant accomplishment have been overshadowed by the looming student debt that I graduated with.
Student debt in America is a severe crisis — one that disproportionately burdens young people, particularly young people of color like me, who make up the most diverse generation our country’s ever seen. Thankfully, these payments were paused in March 2020, and recently extended throughout August, because it’s clear that this debt threatens our ability to stay afloat financially amid the ongoing global pandemic.
Black borrowers hold more student loan debt than all other racial groups. Widening the wealth gap that we know all too well will leave us behind. It’s unsettling to know that this debt could mean the difference between whether or not I’ll save enough to buy a home or support my family in the future.
But it’s been over two years now, and young people like us are still calling on the administration for a real, permanent solution to this problem. Despite over 60% of voters supporting some degree of student loan relief, our regular payments have simply been delayed, for the sixth time.
It’s understandable that some people are discouraged by elected officials who fail to keep their campaign promises on issues like student debt forgiveness. With primary elections well underway and midterm elections approaching, it’s more urgent than ever for us to get organized, not discouraged. We must hold our elected officials accountable to the communities they serve, and make sure that this year they commit to plans that will help change the lives of young people like us. We can do that by turning out in this year’s elections to vote for candidates who will act on our needs, building long-term leadership within our generation and addressing issues from the top to the bottom of our ballots.
To make political change possible, we need strong voting rights access and protections that help us move the needle on these issues. We need federal and state lawmakers to commit fully to protecting our voting rights and expanding access to the democratic process.
In 2020 and 2018, despite some of the most difficult and unique barriers of any voting bloc, young people nationwide turned out in record numbers to vote — many of us in large part because of student debt and the racial wealth gap.
As a graduate, I’m all too familiar with the obstacles that prevent us from voting as students. We move more frequently than older Americans, are less likely to have drivers’ licenses used for voter ID and much less likely to be contacted directly by political campaigns.
Wisconsin, where I attended law school, is home to some of the most stringent voter ID laws in the nation. And without a state ID and easy access to information on how to cast a ballot, I didn’t know how, or even if, I was allowed to vote in elections. At HBCUs and community colleges, where students are disproportionately young people of color, the barriers can be even harder to surmount.
Too many campuses nationwide lack the infrastructure that’s needed to make sure students have opportunities to learn, register and vote. It’s a shame that, for young people like me, zip code is the biggest indicator of whether we’ll be able to vote or not. We need institutional change to ensure that college students get accurate information and details about the processes for voting absentee, by mail, early or on Election Day.
While student loan bills are set to resume this summer, a vast majority of people with student debt aren’t prepared to restart those payments. This’ll have devastating impacts for young people and people of color like me. We must keep up the pressure by continuing to turn out to vote in record numbers and refusing to become disengaged when elected officials don’t uphold their campaign promises. Instead, we will hold them accountable in November.
We have the power to make student debt forgiveness a top issue for politicians. We must continue this fight at the polls.
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Tiara Badie is a recent graduate of Marquette University Law School and a former member of the Fair Elections Center’s Campus Vote Project Student Advisory Board for the 2021–2022 school year.
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