How Are Black Women Oppressed Regarding Equal Pay, Equal Employment, And Equal Health Care?

I would like this paper to be written on the struggles and oppression of black way in regards to equal pay, equal employment, and equal health care. I need for this paper to be written in APA format with 20 references, also please use some examples of women who have struggled today with these issues. I will email the instructions for this assignment.

How Black Women are oppressed regarding equal pay, equal employment, and equal health care?

Over the past few decades, researchers have noted an increase in the rate of black women experiencing hypertension, depression, alcohol and substance use, and psychological distress. The health challenges emanate from black women’s persistent gender and racial bias in the United States. Black Women have experienced a long history of oppression and violation of their basic rights in the social and economic arenas (Feagin, 2013). They have always struggled to overcome the glass ceiling and gain equitable positions as men and other racial groups, such as whites, in employment, compensation, and health care, with limited success. Black women have in the past engaged in concerted efforts to have their voices heard in policy- and decision-making at various levels of society, such as education, employment, and health care. Today’s gains result from the effortless fight for women’s rights by activists, such as Mildred Bond Roxborough, Daisy Lampkin, and Audre Lorde. Despite the recent successes of inequality, black women still have a long way to achieve equal employment, pay, and health care.

The Oppression of Black Women

The black women’s experience in the United States has always been complicated by racial and gender realities that created a discrimination system since the slavery era. The black woman was used as the subject of labor and sexual exploitation by white men, who held a superior position over the marginalized gender and race (Rosenblum & Travis, 2016). Intersectionality is necessary to understand the unique types of oppression faced by black women in the US since the slavery era. Regardless of abolishing slavery and the fight for blacks and women’s rights during the civil rights movement, black women’s place remains inferior with a high level of discrimination and inequality in various spheres of life, such as employment, pay, and health care (Nash, 2008). Black women are always assigned a lower and marginalized position than other races, such as White, which is the basis for their biased and prejudiced treatment. Regardless of women’s struggle to gain meaningful education and marketable skills, systematic racism remains a barrier to their ability to obtain well-paying jobs.

Employment

Employment decisions are among the most biased from a racial and gender perspective. Black women have historically experienced discrimination in employment due to their gender and race through an interplay of institutional and interpersonal influences. However, policymakers suggest that they have implemented systematic and policy interventions to address gender and racial discrimination in employment. The reality is entirely different because the biased and discriminatory practices remain evident. The institutional factors affecting equality in employments operates under “neutral” organizational policies and procedures that deny black women the same opportunity as men and whites (Yearby, 2018). Apart from the institutionalized discrimination, women of color are disadvantaged by personal conscious and unconscious prejudice that limits their chances to get well-paying jobs, especially when competing for the same position with whites or men. Interpersonal decision-making occurs in decisions, such as whom to interview and hire for a specific job (Alonso et al., 2017). Regardless of civil rights laws that prohibit discrimination in employment, black women remain underrepresented in many workplaces. When hired, their pay is considerably lower than that of men and whites.

Black women have been exceling in education, developing necessary competencies to improve their social mobility through employment. They have been gaining skils and experience to enable them to work in any workplace and position. In fact, their struggle for a better life in the United States is greater than for white women as they strive to overcome the historical biased and low-status that has remained since the slavery era. Most recruitment and hiring decisions are made according to their skin color, even when the qualifications are the same. Recent research indicates that African Americans with non-White-sounding names, such as Lakisha, receive 50% fewer callbacks than African Americans with White-sounding names (Yearby, 2018). The evidence suggests that decision-making in employment are informed by conscious and unconscious prejudice, especially among non-black managers (Dickens et al., 2019). Unfortunately, even when they hire blacks, the compensation decisions follow the same biased model to give black women less pay than white men and women.

Pay

Similar institutional and individual factors that affect women’s employment also play a role in determining their compensation at the workplace. Black women are historically paid less than white men, even when working in the same position and doing the same work and effort. Conventionally, the US has used the “neutral” decision when determining wages in the private and public sector, which places women in a more disadvantaged position than white men (Yearby, 2018). Interpersonal level discrimination in pay occurs when individual interactions determine what a black woman earns relative to a white man. Interpersonal level bias in compensation is common when deciding how much to pay for a specific position and leaders consider the decision in a biased perspective (Mandel & Semyonov, 2016; Assari & Caldwell, 2018). Also, during pay hikes, the same dynamics allow women to lag behind their peers in terms of the percentage of salary increment. Black women, regardless of positive changes made in the country to address the glass ceiling, remain disadvantaged due to the institutional and interpersonal decision-making influences.

Although black women’s status in the country has been improving over the years, their median wage remains considerably lower than that of men. Past studies implicate the “neutral” policy that uses salary history when making compensation decisions (Yearby, 2018). For instance, Oracle is alleged to use past compensation history when making current decisions, which retains the historical gender and racial bias in pay structures. Evidence reveals that such companies channel black women into lower-pain positions, creating unequal compensation structures despite improving skills, effort, and responsibility. Companies that use history end up with different levels of pay for individuals in the same job, skill, effort, and responsibility (Dalton, 2017). Many organizations still maintain gender and racial hierarchies in compensation decisions, continuing the historical oppression against black women in the United States. The discrimination harms black women’s health, even as the health care system is also biased towards whites’ needs.

Health Care

Inequality in health care for black women is two-fold. First, the inherent discrimination affects their health outcomes, such as placing them at risk of depression and anxiety disorders. Inequality in the workplace is one of the leading causes of poor health outcomes for black women in the United States (Singh et al., 2017). Black women have always felt inferior to men and white women due to the institutionalized racism and structures that support biases and discriminatory practices. They affect women socially and economically since they cannot get the same compensation or even jobs as their peers with the same education and skillsets. The other side of the health impact of gender and ratio inequality in the country is poor health services available to black women instead of white women (Matthew, 2018). Just like other systems in the country, the healthcare system is highly discriminatory and perpetuates inequality, leading to adverse effects on their health and wellbeing.

Race-related health disparities in the United States is a severe challenge to achieving equality and progress. Being a black woman in the US places one at the risk of facing considerable inequality in access to health care. Maternal mortality and injury rates are higher among African American women than white women due to the limited access to quality health care (Volpe et al., 2019; Wallace et al., 2015). Black women are more likely to die during pregnancy and childbirth due to a lack of sufficient insurance cover to access quality care (Spencer & Grace, 2016). The majority of uninsured and underinsured people in the United States are black women. Furthermore, they are most likely to experience stigmatization and discrimination that discourages them from seeking quality care when they are unwell. The inequalities and disparities in healthcare access place them at the risk of adverse health outcomes, including high mortality and morbidity.

Struggles, Achievements, and Gaps

Black women in the United States have fought and struggled to gain a better place in employment, compensation, and health care. Since the time of the Civil Rights movement, women have been in the forefront struggling to improve equality in various areas of life and economy. Black women also joined the feminist movement in the 1970s to continue fighting for equality since their efforts during the Civil Rights movement were often overshadowed by those of men (Bustelo, 2016; de Los Reyes,(2016). Black women, such as Mildred Bond Roxborough and Audre Lorde, played a major role in the achievements that society has experienced so far (Caldemeyer, 2016). Mildred Bond Roxborough was the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People’s secretary. She took advantage of her position to advance the needs and rights of black women in the United States. Women were responsible for organizing meetings, such as Daisy Lampkin, who travelled across the country trying to gather women towards the struggle to improve the place of women in society (Smallwood, 2020). Such efforts brought women together to fight for equality and protection of their rights.

Women have engaged in civil rights and feminist movements to end oppression, especially among black women in the US. Women, such as Audre Lorde, used their education and knowledge to create awareness about oppression against black women and the need for urgent changes to achieve equality (Nayak, 2014). Even though she was legally blind and with a speech impairment, she wrote books, about racism and women’s rights, works that had a huge impact on the feminist movement. She exposed the then tend to leave out black women from the white-dominated feminist movements, calling for the presentation of the value of all women. Black women have come a long way in their effort to fight for their rights and equality, although they still experience oppression in various areas, such as employment and health care (Calkin, 2015). Therefore, Black women in the US continue to suffer due to inequality that leaves them out of critical opportunities.

Regardless of the struggles and achievements made in the area of racial discrimination against black women, the society is yet to make real positive changes since they still experience inequality in employment, pay, and health care. During the history of struggle, black women have hope of experiencing a positive change and the input of national and international participants in attempts to improve equality. African American women have taken stock of progress, but also focusing on the long way they still have ahead to achieve real equality. However, they have a long way ahead before society can become equal in various areas of social and economic development.

Conclusion

Black women in the United States have undergone a long history of oppression and violation of their basic rights since the slavery era. They have been used in forced labor and sexual exploitation through a long system of racism and gender discrimination. The legacy of racism in the country remains in employment, compensation and health care, where inequality remains prevalent regardless of the years of struggle to gain equality. Employment and compensation decisions remain discriminatory informed by institutionalized and interpersonal racist policies and procedures. Health care access for black women is limited by poor access, and stigmatization, which hinders them from accessing quality care. Therefore, regardless of recent efforts to overcome racism and achieve equality, black women have a long way to achieve equal treatment in various areas, such as employment and health care. Black women can work with others in society to continue fighting against discrimination and racism against them and achieve real equality. They should act as activists and set the agenda for modern discussion at the national and international levels to eradicate the prevalent inequality in society.

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