Mississippi city fights back against payday loan industry’s high costs

• A recent academic study found payday lending targets Black and Latino communities.
• Mississippi residents who take financial literacy course can obtain low-interest loans.
• Payday loan industry says it’s offering a service to those who don’t have traditional banks.
• Payday lenders have thrived in Mississippi, but critics are fighting the high-interest loans.

Johnny Magee said he’s spent all 67 years of his life in the southeast Mississippi city of Laurel, but not once can the three-term mayor recall his father getting a loan at a bank.

Instead, he said the elder Magee relied upon payday lenders, prominent across Mississippi and in Laurel, known for its pine trees and the filming location of the HGTV series “Home Town.”