Black Women’s Equal Pay Day: The Overlooked Gap Between Black Women and the White Women Who Rally Beside Them
Despite the Equal Pay Act being presented to Congress in 1963, the disparity in wages between men and women for equivalent roles (a.k.a. the gender wage gap) remains ever-present for women in the United States. As of 2019, women overall earn only $0.82 for every $1.00 men with equivalent experience and job titles earn. But here’s another, often overlooked, statistic: on average, Black women in the U.S. also earn 17% less than their white female counterparts.
More and more people are highlighting the additional barriers Black women face in the workplace and how their identity as both Black and female impact their fight for equity. Even still, progressive movements fighting for equal pay stop short of fully addressing the gap between Black women and the white female peers they’re being asked to stand in solidarity with. For one to truly advocate for all women’s equal pay, they must first know and understand the ways gender and race affect Black women.
One of the many ways this occurs is through Black women, despite meeting or exceeding the prerequisites for their current job, being tasked with providing additional uncompensated labor. They’re expected to contribute their time and expertise in the form of diversity & inclusion committee involvement, disproportionate office management duties, and responsibilities as unofficial office liaisons.
Too often the presumed solution to this injustice is asking for a raise and simply advocating for oneself. However, the problem doesn’t start nor end with Black women asking for what they deserve. As Viola Davis famously said, “I have a career that’s probably comparable to Meryl Streep, Julianne Moore, Sigourney Weaver. They had the same path as me, and yet I am nowhere near them. Not as far as money, not as far as job opportunities. nowhere close to it… Pay me what I’m worth!” Black women are asking for raises, they’re just being told no.
Even in circumstances when they receive commensurate raises later in their careers, disparities in compensation rates between Black and white women begin as early as their first full-time entry level role, forcing Black women into an endless cycle of playing catch-up. Such a vicious cycle will remain commonplace in the absence of an aggressive push to close the gender-racial wage gap. The cumulative impact? Less financial stability, fewer resources, and limited career mobility.
Notable figures from Kamala Harris to Serena Williams have publicly spoken out about Black women’s equal pay. Black women are leading the charge to ensure all women receive fair and equitable compensation. Now more than ever it’s time for society to rally behind them and demand we close the gender-racial wage gap.