Advocates with the Black Women’s Round Table say black women only make 56 cents in wages when compared to every dollar earned by their white male counterparts. Many black women in the state currently work two or three jobs because of this pay gap, and experts say 8/10 are the primary earners in their homes. Pearl Wicks is Executive Vice President of Hope Credit Union, a financial institution that focuses on serving women of color in the South East. She says when black women have equal wages, it benefits their families as well as their communities.
“And so having an opportunity to buy a home and keep their family in a nice and safe community, start their business. I think that equal pay is one way of continuing to afford black women access to do those things and do them at a bigger scale.”
This legislation will not only help those already living in Mississippi but experts say it would encourage women to move to the state and participate in the local economy. Maria Serratos is a Junior at Mississippi State University. She says without an equal pay law and protections against race discrimination, she may have to choose a different place to live after graduation.
Serratos says “I see it every day when I’m in college. You know, we have employers from all over the nation come. Most of the girls I go to school with, they try to get out of state. I mean I come from Mexico, and I have really no ties to the state. But I’ve seen it, and the people are so community-based and I want to work with them. But if your own legislature is pushing you away, why would I stay?”
Both chambers have made progress towards passing an equal pay bill, however, advocates say these measures must be modified to add protections for women in the workplace before final passage.
