Evidence of raced-based pricing exists in life, home and auto insurance, auto purchasing and bank lending. Language shifts, members of these industries say, only cover the reality that Blacks are paying more. While national efforts have developed to create fairer rates and policies, financial experts say consumer education is the key to stopping systematic rip-offs.

Although pricing life insurance solely on race was outlawed by the early 1970s, insurance executives recently revealed that Black people are still paying higher premiums on policies taken out decades ago.

"The companies did not go back and upgrade the policy of the Black policyholder to the same face amount of the white policyholder," said Bill Goodman, special litigation counsel for the Texas Department of Insurance. As a result, Blacks have continued to pay more for less benefits based on these old racial double standards.

Mr. Goodman is a part of a national task force that was organized after these practices were made public. The National Association of Insurance Commissioners have been examining the books of insurance companies and have identified 76 that are still collecting premiums with rates established based on race.

Referring to figures listed in the 1960 Little Gem Life Chart, an independently published analysis of life insurance, Mr. Goodman noted the differences in death benefits for a policy taken out at birth: $357 for a white child and $277 for a Black child.

After it became illegal to categorize policies by race, "standard" replaced "white" and "premium" replaced "Black" or "Colored" and "hazardous occupation" was another way to rate Black people�s policies higher, he added.

Today, the language revolves around credit history, according to insurance professionals. Some officers claim that credit is a useful tool, pointing to data showing the relationship between credit ratings and risks on insurance on life, home and auto. Others, however, laugh at the concept that someone�s credit rating has anything to do with the possibility that their house will catch on fire.

"I am especially concerned about credit in this context since credit was used as a pretext 20-30 years ago for race-based pricing," said Mr. Goodman, "I am very, very, very, very, very suspicious."

Hank Schwaab, a Black man who worked in the insurance industry for over 60 years, also believes credit scoring is racially biased. "When we write a homeowner�s policy or automobile policy, then we must also submit a financial report showing that these people who have applied for insurance have a clean record, not having bounced any checks," he said.

"I feel that this is discrimination," Mr. Scwaab continued, "because obviously people in wealthy neighborhoods do not bounce checks as a rule, whereas other people in poorer neighborhoods who live from payday to payday sometimes can�t help themselves and they get in trouble. They pay higher rates for insurance."

Insurance rates based on zip codes have also been widely criticized by some insurance professionals. Defenders of this practice say an area�s crime and population density contribute to a higher rate of accidents; critics say the method is misused to target inner cities.

Consumers face even greater challenges when buying cars. Interest rate mark-ups determined by dealers generate profits that are split between dealers and lenders. Rarely is the customer aware of the percentage point increase, which is based partly on their credit history.

According to a study conducted by Vanderbilt professor Mark A. Cohen, Nissan gained more than $210 million in revenue since 1990 based on dealer mark-ups of Black consumers. Blacks received mark-ups twice as many times as whites, 72.8 percent of Black car buyers versus 46.7 percent of white consumers, according to a July 4 New York Times report on the study. The largest mark-up gap was found in Wisconsin, with Blacks paying an additional $1132 versus a $301 average mark-up for whites.

In the same article, a study of Nissan by Yale Law Professor Ian Ayres indicated lenders set limits on mark-ups for consumers with top quality credit, who were mostly whites. Greater mark-ups were allowed on loans with longer terms, which are taken out mostly by Blacks. In the study, Professor Ayres noted: "None of these selective mark-up caps are justified by the dealerships� costs of arranging and or processing loan applications."

The discovery of such arbitrary practices set forth a series of class action suits against insurance companies and car dealerships across the nation. Nat Shapo, director of the Illinois Department of Insurance, also a member of the national insurance task force, said state commissioners have signed a resolution agreeing to seek a national resolution of settlements to victimized customers. Because there is no federal regulation of insurance, state laws vary regarding insurance practices, posing a serious challenge for the task force.

For the consumer, "education is the beginning," said Diane Ashley of Citigroup, stressing the need to look at loan interest rates, particularly mortgage loans. "One of the biggest, easiest flags to note is prepayment penalties. The companies that are on the up and up are not going to charge or penalize you if you wanted to pay it off earlier," she noted.

Other issues involve default policies and additional things they make you purchase along with the loan, she said. "Do they require you to buy single premium credit life insurance, which is a big scam because they get a lot of profit out of that," she said.

"Black people have been paying more since eternity," commented Mickey Bowers, president of a Ford dealership in Randallstown, Maryland. Black people should patronize Black dealerships because the dealers will have the customers� best interest in mind, he said. Mr. Bowers said his customers are shown their interest rate alongside the rate that the banks charge his dealership, assuring customers they are not getting ripped off.

Consumers can also gain financial literacy on their own through competitive shopping and research, said numerous insurance executives. "When you are knowledgeable, you�re likely to get fairer rates," Rev. Jesse Jackson told The Final Call during the 30th annual Rainbow/Push Coalition Convention. "Ignorant people get exploited. That�s why knowledge is power."

Rainbow/Push sponsored several workshops on financial issues, hosted by industry professionals during their convention titled, "One Big Tent: Pursuing the American Dream."

Ending this "economic bloodsucking" is key in getting economic justice, the "Fourth Movement in the Freedom Symphony" which began with abolishing slavery, ending segregation and gaining the right to vote, said Rev. Jackson. During the convention, he outlined strategies to eliminate "patterns of predatory economic race profiling," noting that the need for reparations for segregation is more documented than it is for slavery. Raced-based financial services, he said, "is a function of colonialism that is profoundly deep and very exploitative."