There are many ways in which equality is still a dream for people of color, and especially for black women. The statistics provide a picture of what it is currently like living in America for black women. For one, there is a wealth gap for black families that has deep roots in many forms of system oppression. A white household making the same annual income as a black household will have, on average, eleven times more wealth than the black household.

This is the result of things like red-lining, loan discrimination, banking discrimination, and outright discrimination in the workplace. In a society where money is passed down from generation to generation, a group of people that began with an advantage because of the way the law was written is likely to maintain that advantage. This is one of the biggest stumbling blocks to equality.

In addition, there is a gender and race gap when it comes to education at nearly all levels. Young black people, and especially young black girls, are less likely to be in schools where they have the resources to truly shine. They are less likely to be admitted to top private schools if that option is even feasible economically for their parents. This continues into higher education. Though affirmative action has sought to remedy some of the gaps between white and black students at the college level, there have been multiple attempts to roll back the gains made by the country on that topic.

This is true, as well, in the grad school setting. Black women are underrepresented in medical school, business school, and law school. It should come as no surprise, then, that women are underrepresented in these important industries. When they are denied access to the education they would need to break down these doors, black women have a much more difficult time gaining access.

The denial of access into these high level professions has also left black women with undersized access to the political sphere. Black women do not occupy any seats in the Senate. There are no black women on the Supreme Court, and in fact, there has never been a black woman on that court. There are few black females in federal judgeships. While there have been black congresswomen and a black woman as attorney general, the federal government has not been too receptive to black women. This is a form of inequality that tends to impact almost everything else because the lack of female voices in Washington leads to policy that is unfair to black women.

There is also some evidence that black women are not allowed to operate in leadership as their white or male colleagues might. They have less freedom to demonstrate creative thinking. They are constrained to classic methods of leadership, lest they be excoriated for their behavior. This is one of the soft bigotries that limits the ability of black women to advance and change their own industries for the better.

Whether inequality can be remedied or not is a difficult question. At current, the roots of inequality go back so far and deep that it is difficult to imagine them being fixed in a short period of time. There must be a dedication to fixing inequality at all levels, and to normalizing black women in positions of authority starting at the lowest levels. Black women must be taught in schools that they have the ability to strive, and programs that actually support putting black women into power—like affirmative action and other targeted directives—should be supported on a local, state, and federal level until black women have more representation and the opportunity to grow.