Today we close our series “The Color of Money,” which has been an examination of how the economic downturn is affecting minorities. We’re ending the conversation with a look at what it would take to turn the lives of the poor around. With unemployment rates higher among African Americans and Hispanics, and the median income about $20,000 lower than it is for whites, these ethnic groups run a greater risk of staying poor and bearing the consequences.

Joining us to talk about how the urban poor are experiencing the recession and what it will take to get out of it is Sudhir Venkatesh. As a sociologist he has done in-depth field work, most famously a six-year immersion in Chicago's Robert Taylor Homes housing projects, where he experienced, first-hand, exposure to gang dynamics, the black market and the psychological toll that chronic poverty can have on a community. He is the William B. Ransford professor of sociology at Columbia University and author of numerous books, including Gang Leader for a Day and Off the Books: The Underground Economy of the Urban Poor.

Today close to 46 million Americans are without health insurance, and of those, more than half are people of color. According to the Institute of Medicine, At least 1 in 3 Latinos is uninsured, as compared with 22% of African Americans, 17% of Asian and Pacific Islanders, and 13% of whites. In the third installment of our series, The Color of Money, we're examining how the economic downturn is exacerbating the already pronounced healthcare disparities among minorities. Job losses since 2007 have led to an estimated 9 million fewer Americans receiving health coverage through the workplace, and a corresponding rise in Medicaid enrollment. Well off white people who are losing their jobs these days are likely to fall into a safety net of COBRA coverage, which they can probably pay for out of their unemployment. Low-income ethnic minorities are losing their jobs too, but the world of healthcare they are likely to enter is one where prescription drugs are too expensive, co-pays too steep to pay, and the ER becomes a last resort.

To assess the current situation and to gauge how bad things could get we are joined by two experts in the field. Cara James is a Senior Policy Analyst for the Race, Ethnicity and Health Care group, and the Director of the Barbara Jordan Health Policy Scholars Program at the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. And Dr. Robert Schiller is Senior Vice President for Medical Services and Training for the Institute for Family Health at Beth Israel.

For more of The Takeaway's series on The Color of Money, click here.

Today is the Part Two of The Takeaway’s series “The Color of Money.” We’re exploring how the financial crisis is affecting people of color in the United States, perhaps differently than it affects their white peers. Today we are taking a close look at how financial services are marketed by black Americans to black Americans. For example, “rush cards" — no-credit-check, pre-paid credit cards with $200 credit limits and $50 a year in fees. We’re joined by Boyce Watkins, professor of finance at Syracuse University and founder of YourBlackWorld, to discuss access to credit, the failings of financial institutions, and the changing American Dream.

Listen to Part One of The Takeaway's Color of Money series, Debtors' Prison: It lives in the 21st Century.

Here is the ad for Russell Simmons' "Rush Card":



And here is a conversation about that Rush Card from the Young Guns Now (some harsh language):

Today we’re kicking off our series, “The Color of Money,” in an effort to examine how the economic downturn is affecting minorities. We’re starting the conversation with a look at modern day debtors’ prison—a 19th century relic that is alive and well in parts of 21st century America. While imprisonment for debt was officially abolished in the 1800s, for Edwina Nowlin, it is a harsh reality. Her teenage son was kept in prison until she could come up with the funds to pay the court-ordered $104/month fee. When she couldn't pay, she was sent to jail for 30 days. It took a lawsuit by the ACLU of Michigan to get her out.

With unemployment rates higher among African Americans and Hispanics, and the median income about $20,000 lower than it is for whites, these groups run a greater risk of falling into debt and bearing the consequences. Joining us to talk about these penalties and the rise of debtors' prisons is Stephen Bright. He’s the president and senior counsel of the Southern Center for Human Rights. He also teaches at Yale and Georgetown Law School .