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A new Forbes report that details the wealth and opportunity disparities between Black women and their White counterparts has been released.

President Barack Obama addressed this issue during his Congressional Black Caucus Foundation ALC Phoenix Awards dinner, saying:

“It is an affront to the very idea of America when certain segments of our population don’t have access to the same opportunities as everybody else. It makes a mockery of our economy when black women make 30 fewer cents for every dollar a white man earns. That adds up to thousands of dollars in missed income that determines whether a family can pay for a home, or pay for college for their kids, or save for retirement, or give their kids a better life. And that’s not just a woman’s issue, that’s everybody’s issue.”

According to the study, nearly 40 percent of Black women over the age of 65 are totally dependent upon Social Security. Dr. Maya Rockeymoore, President of the Center for Global Policy Solutions and author of the Forbes.com report, wrote:

Black women are paid $606 a week compared to $740 paid to white women and $708 paid to black men. Also, black women experience a profound lack of assets that places them at the bottom of the wealth scale.

On Thursday, Dr. Rockeymoore said, “The state of African-American women’s economics is absolutely a crisis. It’s not just a crisis for Black women, it’s a crisis for the Black family, for the Black community, and for America when you look at the poverty numbers.”

“African-American women are flat broke,” said Rockeymoore. She later added, “Our wealth numbers are absolutely crazy.”

As stated in her report, “Single Black women, for example, own only $200 in median wealth compared to $15,640 for single white women. Those with children have a median wealth of $0 compared to $14,600 for single white women.”

Rockeymoore also highlighted the “economic burden” that many Black women are faced with: “They’re carrying everybody. Not just their children, but adult males in their lives” as a result of wealth/economic disparities that Black males also face in society.

When asked how African-American women should combat this disturbing trend, Rockeymoore told Roland Martin, host of NewsOne Now, “we have to address discrimination against women, discrimination against African-Americans.”

She continued, “When we talk about income inequality — that’s just part of the story, it’s also income and wealth. Wages and wealth. We need to be talking about both.”

Rockeymoore extolled the importance of entrepreneurship among Black women, saying, “When we’re entrepreneurs, we’re actually better off financially. We need to be actually building companies.”

The President of the Center for Global Policy Solutions also said Black women should purchase homes and “build equity in those homes.”

Watch Dr. Maya Rockeymoore, Roland Martin, and the NewsOne Now panel discuss the income/wealth and opportunity disparities between Black women and their White counterparts in the video clip above.

TV One’s NewsOne Now has moved to 7 A.M. ET, be sure to watch “NewsOne Now” with Roland Martin, in its new time slot on TV One.

Subscribe to the “NewsOne Now” Audio Podcast on iTunes.

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