Over the last two years, a wide swath of Americans are finally catching up to something that many of us have known for quite some time: black women get shit done. This has been spoken about in a political context, of course, but black women’s accomplishments and tenacity extend far beyond the ballot box. In higher education, black women represent two-thirds of all black bachelor’s degree holders, 70 percent of black master’s degrees and 60 percent of black doctorates. We are also the fastest growing group of female entrepreneurs in the country—with businesses that are majority-owned by black women growing 67 percent between 2007 and 2012.
Black women continue to persist, despite the very real interpersonal and structural sexism and racism that impacts our lives. While the above statistics may paint a bright picture, make no mistake: black women continue to encounter barriers outside of our control which prevent us from achieving the same economic and social opportunities afforded to other demographic groups. As evidence of this, August 7 marks Equal Pay-Day for Black Women. Since black women only make about 63 cents for each dollar that white men make, this marks the day that black women who worked full-time in 2017 and eight months into 2018 will make the same amount of money as white men did the previous year. Or as Time puts it, “Black women must work almost 20 months to earn what men earn in 12.”
There are many reasons for this pay inequity. Historically, the labor and work of women of all colors has been devalued. And when race and ethnicity enter into the equation, it becomes worse. For instance, while white women reached equal pay day on April 10, black women reach it on August 7, Native American women reach it on September 27 and Hispanic women reach it on November 1. Black women are also over-represented in the low-wage workforce, comprising 10 percent of all low-wage earners. This is disproportionate to the overall number of black women in the workforce, which is only 6 percent.
Even with education and career success, this is an issue that impacts all black women. Vox notes that “black female college grads make 37 percent less than white males with the same level of education, and black women are also saddled with far more student loan debt than their white peers.” The gap in pay has a tremendous financial impact on over the course of a black woman’s lifetime, causing a loss of nearly $870,000 in potential earnings.
Though parts of America seem to understand the power of black women’s political organizing and voting, this country still doesn’t want to pay black women our fair share for the work we do.
This is why so many policy discussions about equal pay, sexual harassment in the workplace, raising the minimum wage, labor unions, etc. don’t include an intersectional analysis that includes how all of these issues specifically impact black women and make us more vulnerable. And this is not just an economic issue, but also a social justice one. Not only does pay inequity impact our ability to make money and acquire wealth, it is also tied to our ability to become homeowners, access affordable education and lucrative employment opportunities, and our ability to care for ourselves and our families.
As much as Democrats are finally coming around to acknowledge black women’s role in electing Democrats and are thanking us for special elections in Virginia and Alabama, here’s a much better idea: pay black women what we are owed. Thanks and praise are meaningless without action. Every day that black women fail to receive equal pay is another day that we become at risk for increased poverty. The hypocrisy here is that we say that the American Dream rewards hard work and determination with success. Yet black women continue to pay our dues, only to meet more barriers.
Here’s a simple place to start: Ask yourself if you are advocating for black women to receive equal pay in your workplace. Are you an ally? Are you helping or hurting? Are you supporting the right of workers to unionize? (Studies show that black women who belong to unions experience less pay inequity than those who don’t.) If you are employing black women, are you paying them what they deserve, based on their qualifications? If they were white men of equal education and experience, would they be making their current salary? And if all else fails and you can’t seem to get it right, you can always just pay black women as if we are white men, because even when we have the same or even more education, we end up making less than they do.
No matter what you do, the takeaway message is the same: pay black women what we have earned. #BlackWomensEqualPayDay #PayBlackWomen