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Black Women + Inequality
Mo’Nique, Taraji, & The Problem With The Black Women’s Wage Movement
The wage disparity’s compounded effects of racism and sexism haunt us at every turn. Apparently, Hollywood is no different.
Waging gender-colored bias is often a lesser-discussed subject in mainstream discourse. The constant plight of over-substantiating a Black woman’s worth in the workplace has never been for the weak. But time and again, we’ve considered it our responsibility to leave a less unproblematic trail for those after us. It’s called leaving the door open for the “next Black woman coming,” comedic legend Mo’Nique once put it.
Black women earn 67 cents for every dollar earned by white men, compared to 84 cents for our white female counterparts. This provides Black women needing to take nearly two years to earn what their white counterparts will earn within 12–16 months.
The significantly wider pay gap is largely founded on the combined effect of race and gender bias. Black women are ambitious, of course. However, when asking for more, we seemingly get punished while our counterparts get promoted. The math isn’t mathing when it comes to Black women’s wage disparity in the workplace.
