GHETTO TAX............
Lately I’ve been hearing more and more grumbling about the so-called “Ghetto Tax”. You know the concept of po’ Black Peoples getting ripped off by insurance companies simply because of where they live. I ask you, is there such an animal in existence, or is it just another Liberal, “issue of the month’, which there seems to be no shortage of?
The answer is not just no- but hell no. There is no such thing as a “Ghetto Tax”.
Insurance companies are in the business of insuring risks. They are not benevolent agencies that exist to replace shit that gets broken, stolen, burned, flooded, ect... just for the niceness of it- they are in the insuring business to make a fuckin’ profit- yes, and the bigger the profit the better they like it.
Once this simple fact is understood then it doesn’t take a leap of faith to see how idiotic the concept of a “Ghetto Tax” is. Still not there with me, okay, let’s play a game.
Pookie and Ray-Ray live on the southwest side of Atlanta, in the’hood. It is not uncommon to see open air drug sales during all times of the day or night, and crack-addicted prostitutes wandering up and down the streets looking for john’s to finance their addition.
Larry and Daryl live on the east side of town, Lithonia, in a middle class neighborhood. The houses are well maintained, lawns cut and landscaped, no broken glass fills the street, and the kids do not hang out under the street lights after dark.
Pookie and Ray-Ray have both been the victims of vandalism a combined total of eight times in one year. The both have had their cars broken into several times by criminals either seeking to steal them or steal their radios. Pookie’s 3 bedroom home was broken into twice, once while he was on vacation- it was damned near emptied out, and once during the day while he was at work. Being the hard working intelligent person he is Pookie made insurance claims in all instances, and his losses were minimized.
Ray-Ray rents a 2 bedroom apartment and has had the door kicked in three times in the span of a year, twice by the police, and once during a so-called home invasion. Ray-Ray suffered a tremendous loss during the home invasion. He lost a lot of cash, jewelry and drugs. Due to the fact the Ray Ray can’t even spell leasers insurance, and he never purchased it, he has never made a claim against his losses during the so-called home invasion. And even if he did have a policy he probably could not recover losses due to the illegal nature of his activities, but he has made multiple claims on his auto insurance.
Larry and Daryl have homeowners insurance and auto insurance. Daryl loves to grill, and this past summer He failed to make sure the coals in his grill were completely out before pushing it under his wooden deck. This resulted in a fire in which an observant neighbor called the fire department , unlike Pookie’s neighbors that didn’t see nothin’ nor hear nothin’ when Pookie’s house was cleaned out. Daryl’s loss was a burned down deck, which his insurance company promptly made good on- after Daryl paid his deductible. Daryl has no other losses in the last two years, home or auto.
Larry, on the other hand has had his car vandalized twice, both times while visiting his cousin Pookie. Each time He paid his deductible and his car was restored to it’s original state. Larry has never had to make a claim against his homeowners insurance.
These four black men live in predominately black areas, are of similar age, bring in similar income, at least on paper Ray Ray does. Yet, Larry and Daryl pay significantly less for the insurance coverage than Pookie and Ray Ray. Why- more shit happens in Pookie’s and Ray Ray area than does Larry’s and Daryl’s.
This translates into more money spent by their insurers whom in turn charge them more to insure their higher levels of risk. And it should be this way. I hear some people saying that we all pay for the losses that hurricanes cause insurance companies- false, State farm tried to do that and ended up having to refund millions of their customers the overage.
This is all basic. Anyone that insists on propagating the concept of “Ghetto Taxes” is full of bull, case closed.
Before I close this post let’s take one last look at Pookie.
Pookie purchased his house for a bargain at 65,0000.00 dollars due to the fact of the condition of the neighborhood, plus the house needed a substantial amount of work done to it. Pookie understood all of this including he would have higher risks that would result in higher insurance premiums.
Pookie also understood that his house was built in the early 40’s- they don’t build them like that anymore, and invested another 50,000.00 dollars into it knowing that it’s value would one day quadruple. Pookie knows from experience that the area He lives in will take the course of the areas similar in the past. More people like Pookie will move into the area restoring and reclaiming the area and wake up one day with a vibrant, sought after neighborhood, just like Larry’s and Daryl’s, with comparable insurance rates and property values off the chain.
Later’
The answer is not just no- but hell no. There is no such thing as a “Ghetto Tax”.
Insurance companies are in the business of insuring risks. They are not benevolent agencies that exist to replace shit that gets broken, stolen, burned, flooded, ect... just for the niceness of it- they are in the insuring business to make a fuckin’ profit- yes, and the bigger the profit the better they like it.
Once this simple fact is understood then it doesn’t take a leap of faith to see how idiotic the concept of a “Ghetto Tax” is. Still not there with me, okay, let’s play a game.
Pookie and Ray-Ray live on the southwest side of Atlanta, in the’hood. It is not uncommon to see open air drug sales during all times of the day or night, and crack-addicted prostitutes wandering up and down the streets looking for john’s to finance their addition.
Larry and Daryl live on the east side of town, Lithonia, in a middle class neighborhood. The houses are well maintained, lawns cut and landscaped, no broken glass fills the street, and the kids do not hang out under the street lights after dark.
Pookie and Ray-Ray have both been the victims of vandalism a combined total of eight times in one year. The both have had their cars broken into several times by criminals either seeking to steal them or steal their radios. Pookie’s 3 bedroom home was broken into twice, once while he was on vacation- it was damned near emptied out, and once during the day while he was at work. Being the hard working intelligent person he is Pookie made insurance claims in all instances, and his losses were minimized.
Ray-Ray rents a 2 bedroom apartment and has had the door kicked in three times in the span of a year, twice by the police, and once during a so-called home invasion. Ray-Ray suffered a tremendous loss during the home invasion. He lost a lot of cash, jewelry and drugs. Due to the fact the Ray Ray can’t even spell leasers insurance, and he never purchased it, he has never made a claim against his losses during the so-called home invasion. And even if he did have a policy he probably could not recover losses due to the illegal nature of his activities, but he has made multiple claims on his auto insurance.
Larry and Daryl have homeowners insurance and auto insurance. Daryl loves to grill, and this past summer He failed to make sure the coals in his grill were completely out before pushing it under his wooden deck. This resulted in a fire in which an observant neighbor called the fire department , unlike Pookie’s neighbors that didn’t see nothin’ nor hear nothin’ when Pookie’s house was cleaned out. Daryl’s loss was a burned down deck, which his insurance company promptly made good on- after Daryl paid his deductible. Daryl has no other losses in the last two years, home or auto.
Larry, on the other hand has had his car vandalized twice, both times while visiting his cousin Pookie. Each time He paid his deductible and his car was restored to it’s original state. Larry has never had to make a claim against his homeowners insurance.
These four black men live in predominately black areas, are of similar age, bring in similar income, at least on paper Ray Ray does. Yet, Larry and Daryl pay significantly less for the insurance coverage than Pookie and Ray Ray. Why- more shit happens in Pookie’s and Ray Ray area than does Larry’s and Daryl’s.
This translates into more money spent by their insurers whom in turn charge them more to insure their higher levels of risk. And it should be this way. I hear some people saying that we all pay for the losses that hurricanes cause insurance companies- false, State farm tried to do that and ended up having to refund millions of their customers the overage.
This is all basic. Anyone that insists on propagating the concept of “Ghetto Taxes” is full of bull, case closed.
Before I close this post let’s take one last look at Pookie.
Pookie purchased his house for a bargain at 65,0000.00 dollars due to the fact of the condition of the neighborhood, plus the house needed a substantial amount of work done to it. Pookie understood all of this including he would have higher risks that would result in higher insurance premiums.
Pookie also understood that his house was built in the early 40’s- they don’t build them like that anymore, and invested another 50,000.00 dollars into it knowing that it’s value would one day quadruple. Pookie knows from experience that the area He lives in will take the course of the areas similar in the past. More people like Pookie will move into the area restoring and reclaiming the area and wake up one day with a vibrant, sought after neighborhood, just like Larry’s and Daryl’s, with comparable insurance rates and property values off the chain.
Later’
posted by bold as love at 12:49 AM
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