In observing Black Women’s Equal Pay Day on Thursday, July 10, Bronx Borough President Vanessa L. Gibson and City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams lamented what they regarded as “structural inequities” that Black women continue to face in the US.

“Black Women’s Equal Pay Day is a sobering reminder of the Black women still earn 66 cents for every dollar paid to white men, forcing them to work nearly eight extra months to be compensated the same amount as their white male counterpart,” said Gibson, whose father hailed from Trinidad and Tobago.

“This pay gap is a systemic injustice that affects countless families and communities in the Bronx, New York City, New York State, and beyond,” she added.

“As the first Black Woman to serve as Bronx Borough President, I am proud to join the countless voices of advocates who are on the frontlines continuing the fight for accountability, transparency, and economic policies that ensure Black Women are paid what they have rightfully earned,” Gibson continued.

Speaker Adams said: “On Black Women’s Equal Pay Day, we are reminded of the persisting racial and gender pay disparities that continue to hamper our workforce and economy.

“For Black women, who sit at the intersection of these disparities, the inequities are particularly striking, with us making only 66 cents for every dollar earned by a white man,” she said.

“Especially at a time when our rights and opportunities as women of color are under attack by the Trump administration, New York must lead and confront this continuing injustice,” Adams urged. “Our most diverse and historic women-majority City Council will continue working to address pay disparities in the city, progressing a more equitable economy that pays all workers what they deserve.”

The National Organization for Women (NOW) noted that Black Women’s Equal Pay Day is the date on the calendar that “symbolizes the additional time Black women in the United States must work into the current year to earn what white, non-Hispanic men earned in the previous year.”

NOW stressed that Black women earn, on average, about 66 cents for every dollar earned by non-Hispanic white men in this country in the same role.

Pointing to Equal Pay Today, NOW said, over a 40-year career, this wage gap can accumulate to nearly $1 million in lost earnings.

It said occupational segregation, lack of pay transparency, unpaid care-giving responsibilities, and discrimination in hiring and promotions “perpetuate the wage gap.”

NOW said a fact sheet from Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR) shows how Black women won’t reach pay equity until the year 2227.

“Systemic racism and sexism perpetuate pay inequity for Black women, and intersectional policy solutions are needed such as anti-discrimination enforcement, the right to unionize (and protection for unionized workers), and student-debt cancellation,” NOW said.

“The policy recommendations from IWPR are sensible, urgent, and long overdue,” it added.

NOW said it continues to fight for policy solutions such as the Paycheck Fairness Act, “which will help ensure that workers are paid the same amount for the same work.

“And we need to increase the minimum wage, guarantee parental leave and childcare subsidies to ensure that Black women can take care of their children and not be prematurely forced back to work,” it added.

“Today, on Black Women’s Equal Pay Day, we rededicate ourselves to achieving pay equity and dismantling a racist system that holds us back, and puts us at risk,” NOW continued.