Much like the feminist movement, Black women are being largely ignored by the equal pay movement,” she added. It is this fact that animates her, said Nana Afiriyie, an Indiana-based clinical social worker.
“White feminists shout about equal pay but say and do nothing about women of color,” she said. “It goes back to the system of racism and goes back to a long history of white women. They have always seen Black women as competitive and have been complicit in our oppression. In the workplace, often, they act as if they still want to be our mistresses. You cannot tell them no or make as much or more money than them. And even when we own our own businesses, we still run into this. I am an independent contractor and many times, they want to pay me less,” said Ms. Afiriyie.
“One way to not get discouraged is you realize how the game is played. You have to get in where you fit in. Look at where there’s a hole and figure out how you can fill it. For example, I see people most don’t want to see, and I take virtual appointments at 3 in the morning. Where I compete, I have to compete differently.”
Ms. Brand drove home the real-world implications of the wage disparity on Black women and their families. According to the National Partnership for Women and Families, median wages for Black women in the United States are $36,227 per year, compared to median wages of $57,925 annually for White, non-Hispanic men,” she stated in her column.
“This amounts to a difference of $21,698 each year. In that same report, the National Partnership of Women and Families also highlighted that if the wage gap were eliminated, on average, a black woman working full time, year-round would have enough money for:
• Two and a half years of child care;
• Nearly 2.5 additional years of tuition and fees for a four-year public university, or the full cost of tuition and fees for a two-year community college;
• 159 more weeks of food for her family (three years’ worth);
• More than 14 additional months of mortgage and utilities payments;
• 22 more months of rent.”