by Larry Smith, The Indianapolis Recorder
For millions of Americans, August means blistering days (and nights), kids returning to school (even during a pandemic) and the return of football (in normal years). But, for millions of Black women, the sweltering summer days of August place a white-hot spotlight on economic inequality.
Specifically, the 13th of this month was “Equal Pay Day” for Black women. It is the day on which sisters finally earn as much money as men did — way back in 2019.
Yes, you read that correctly. Black women must wait more than 200 days into 2020 to make as much money as men did last year. (The wait would be even longer if Black men, who make only 87 cents for every dollar that white men make, were excluded from the equation.) By contrast, Asian American Women’s “Equal Pay Day” was in February of this year. White Women’s “Equal Pay Day” was in March. Native Women’s “Equal Pay Day” is Oct. 1. Latinas? Unconscionably, their day is not until Oct. 29.
Given that more than 90% of Americans have been negatively impacted by the Great Depression-like economic effects of COVID-19, the particular plight of Black women will likely be lost in the shuffle. Of course, even when economic times were better, the “good old days” were not so good for the vast majority of Black women. This is despite the fact that, according to the National Center for Education Statistics, Black women are the most highly educated people in the U.S. — followed by Asian women, white women and white men.
As Angela Bronner Helm reported four years ago in The Root, education is a story of “good news, bad news” for Black women. Despite their superlative educational achievements, their earnings trail white men, white women, Black men and Hispanic men (in that order). This stark wage disparity exposes the lie that hard work and educational attainment are the great “equalizers” in America. That’s a bunch of … well, you know.
To be clear, I am not advocating that African Americans, female or male, shun postsecondary education. With few exceptions, less education translates into less income. (Please note that “postsecondary education” includes trade school, apprenticeships and other types of “non-academic” training after high school.)
Still, greater educational attainment cannot, by itself, close gender- and race-based wage gaps. Macro socioeconomic structures (i.e., systemic racism and sexism) have given white Americans a nearly insurmountable economic advantage over African Americans. In short, even if we were able to close the wage gap in a few years, it would still take decades before we closed the wealth gap. While the former is important, our ultimate focus needs to be on the latter.
Reprinted from the Indianapolis Recorder
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