President Obama: Black Women Matter, Too

“Women of color struggle every day with biases that perpetuate oppressive standards for how they’re supposed to look and how they’re supposed to act. Too often, they’re either left under the hard light of scrutiny, or cloaked in a kind of invisibility.” – President Barack Obama

The White House is highlighting the litany of social and economic challenges facing African American women and girls while addressing the longstanding disparities among women of color. In a new report released Wednesday and entitled: “Women and Girls of Color: Addressing Challenges and Expanding Opportunity,” the Obama administration highlights the work they’ve done over the last six years to uplift women and girls of color, including the fight to increase the minimum wage and providing increased access to health screenings.

The White House’s ‘My Brother’s Keeper’ initiative to assist young Black men and men of color has received over $200 million in corporate support -but was criticized for its exclusion of women. Obama says he’s been helping women all along via The White House Council on Women and Girls, established in his first months in the White House.

In the report’s executive summary, Valerie Jarrett, a White House Senior Advisor who also serves as Chair of the White House Counsel for Women and Girls, said the overall well-being of women and girls of color has improved tremendously over the years. She said the number of businesses owned by women of color has skyrocketed, and women of color have ascended to the upper ranks of workplaces across many industries. Teen pregnancy rates for girls of color have plummeted, Jarrett said, and great strides are being made in education.

Since 2009, both fourth and eighth grade math scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, the largest nationwide assessment, have improved for all girls of color. Since 2009, the high school dropout rate has fallen by 16 percent for Black girls and 30 percent for Hispanic girls. Women of color make up 23 percent of all college students, yet they receive 34 percent of all Pell Grants, and in 2012, 3.2 million women of color received Pell Grants.

President Obama has raised the maximum Pell Grant award to $5,730 for the 2014-15 award year – a nearly $1,000 increase since 2008. From 2009 to 2012, the graduation rate at four-year colleges and universities increased by 0.9 percentage points for Black women, 3.1 percentage points for Hispanic women, 2.7 percentage points for American Indian/Alaska Native women, and 2.1 percentage points for Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) women.

However, Jarrett said, there are still critical challenges and disparities that persist for women and girls of color.

“Girls of color still lag behind in their performance on standardized tests, and they are more likely to be suspended from school,” Jarrett wrote. “Women and girls of color still face higher rates of poverty and receive lower wages for their work than their white peers, and they are more likely to become involved in the criminal justice system. Women of color still have some of the highest rates of heart disease, obesity, diabetes and other serious conditions, and they experience high rates of domestic violence.”

“And when women are the primary or sole breadwinners for nearly half of all households of color, these disparities do not just affect them, but their families and communities as well,” she added.

 Jarrett said the Council is convening a Working Group on Challenges and Opportunities for Women and Girls of Color. This Working Group will bring together policy staff from the White House and across federal agencies – as well as experts, leaders and advocates from outside the government – to focus on issues including education, economic security, health, criminal and juvenile justice, and violence.

“We will address barriers to access, including cultural competency, race and gender stereotypes, discrimination, and lack of sufficient resources to support programs in schools and communities,” Jarrett said.  “The aim is to develop a strategy to prepare students for in-demand careers in high-growth industry sectors.”

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