{"product_id":"forgive-us-our-debts-pamela-foohey-9780226851587","title":"Forgive Us Our Debts: How Black Churches Use Bankruptcy to Survive","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA revelatory study of how Black churches turn the financial system back against predatory lenders.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhen American churches face financial difficulties, a disproportionately high number of Black churches reorganize under chapter 11 bankruptcy. There are no easy explanations for this distinction: not location, denomination, leadership structure, or the reasons for the loans. In \u003ci\u003eForgive Us Our Debts\u003c\/i\u003e, legal scholar Pamela Foohey asks why, then, Black churches account for two-thirds of all congregations that file for chapter 11 bankruptcy every year. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDrawing on case studies of six Black churches and one white church, and 150 interviews with church leaders, members, and attorneys, Foohey finds answers in a long history of predatory lending. Unable to negotiate with recalcitrant loan officers, Black churches turn to the legal system to force reasonable concessions from lenders to prevent the stripping of their wealth and the destruction of their communities. While the structural discrimination remains, these churches have found in the bankruptcy system a refuge and some power to fight back.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Pamela Foohey\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0226851583\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780226851587\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e University of Chicago Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 09\/21\/2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 288\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback","brand":"Pamela Foohey","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":48997363024127,"sku":"9780226851587","price":30.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/forgive-us-our-debts-pamela-foohey-9780226851587","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}