The injustices of the American work force is sad, but simple: a dollar for every white man, 78 cents for every non-Black woman and 64 cents for every Black woman. In honor of this disparity, the Twitter community came out in full force to champion #BlackWomenEqualPay Day.
Though the Obama administration has made significant attempts to diminish the gender pay gap, problems still remain, as Black women continue to overrepresent the population with the most minimum wage paying jobs. According to ESSENCE’s March 2014 issue, the average woman working a full-time minimum wage position earns about $14,500 a year. The toxic truth stands: the pay gap is worse for women of color and has not changed in as much as 10 years. This imbalance is not specific to a particular job. No matter what occupation a Black woman holds, she will continue to earn less than her white counterpart, whether or not her job description may be equivalent.
In honor of the B.S, the Twitter community took to this hashtag:#BlackWomenEqualPay. Catch the best tweets below:
#BlackWomenEqualPay because the most educated group in the country is not rewarded under white supremacist capitalism pic.twitter.com/Qu6nhHII2Q
— #IndiaClarke (@lowtech42) July 28, 2015
It’s not lack of education or training creating pay gap. It’s discrimination. #ClockOut4EqualPay #BlackWomenEqualPay pic.twitter.com/HNv8DNQmjd
— SisterSong (@SisterSong_WOC) July 28, 2015
#BlackWomenEqualPay Black women create and grow businesses at 6x the national rate. Shouldn’t we be compensated for that?
— #EndReplyAll2015 (@FeministaJones) July 28, 2015
It’s 2:07pm; imagine if you stopped getting paid for the rest of the day. #BlackWomenEqualPay #ClockOut4EqualPay pic.twitter.com/wYWez6FF8X
— Chirlane McCray (@Chirlane) July 28, 2015
Today is #BlackWomenEqualPay Day. Black women have to work 208 days into 2015 to make as much as a white man did in 2014. Inexcusable.
— Chirlane McCray (@Chirlane) July 28, 2015