Poverty, Minorities, and Consumer Exploitation.

The article presents a discussion related to poverty, minorities and consumer exploitation. A number of reports, ranging from informal studies by journalists carefully researched investigations, have provided evidence that residents of ghettos pay more for their consumer goods than do other Americans. For example, social scientist David Caplovitz' study of 464 families living in three New York settlement houses revealed a consistent pattern of high prices, poor quality, high interest charges, and unethical merchandising techniques being inflicted on them. He concluded that the problems of low- income consumers stem from the same set of forces that have created that special system of sales-and-credit-the quasi-traditional economy catering to their wants. In California, the Governor's Commission on the Los Angeles Riots tended to reinforce this view. Following three months of investigation into the causes of the Watts riots, the Commission reported that consumer problems in the curfew area are not due to systematic racial discrimination but rather result from the traditional interplay of economic forces in the market place, aggravated by poverty conditions. These studies suggest, therefore, that the market system works to the disadvantage of the poor simply because they are poor, not because of their race or ethnicity.