Podcast Summary: How Is This Better?

Episode: Black Women Are Doubled Taxed in America. There's Data.
Host: Akilah Hughes (COURIER)
Guest: Anna Gifty (Economist, Author of "The Double Tax: How Women of Color Are Overcharged and Underpaid")
Date: December 12, 2025

Episode Overview

This episode centers on the compounded economic and social challenges—dubbed the "double tax"—faced by Black women and other women of color in America. Host Akilah Hughes talks with economist Anna Gifty, whose work uncovers the structural forces behind labor market setbacks, persistent wage disparities, and targeted attacks on advancement opportunities for women of color, particularly under current regressive policies.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Myth of Meritocracy and Workforce Purges

• The concept of "meritocracy" has been weaponized, especially during Donald Trump's second term, as a rebuttal to DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) initiatives, but in practice, Black women—despite their qualifications—are being sidelined and purged from high-powered roles.
• The current administration is described as the "whitest... in at least the 2000s" (01:27), indicating regression in representation despite overall increases in appointments for women.

Quote:

"Qualified high powered black women are being purged from the workforce... Even if women overall are getting more placement... turns out it's, it's still real, real white." – Akilah Hughes (01:14)

2. The Numbers Behind the "Double Tax"

• Outdated Unemployment Data: There is a lack of up-to-date unemployment data, with numbers months behind (02:10–02:45).
• Data Limitations and Context: The available data doesn't say why Black women are being pushed out, but unmistakable patterns persist: they're least likely promoted, most likely labeled low performers, and first to go in layoffs. These trends are exacerbated by DEI rollbacks (04:17–06:20).
• Systemic Impact: The financial loss for Black women ripples across families and communities, shrinking the whole economy.

Quote:

"If Black women are losing, all of us are losing. Because... other people are relying on our income... That spills into whether or not the economy grows or shrinks." – Anna Gifty (06:24)

Stat Highlight:

• Black women comprise 7.8% of the US population but bear a disproportionate unemployment burden (15:22).

3. Defining the "Double Tax" (08:34–11:10)

• The "double tax" refers to the combined, compounding effects of racism and sexism—what many Black women recognize as misogynoir.
• This extends beyond Black women to anyone adjacent to Blackness or belonging to racial minority groups.
• Example: The added mental and financial calculus required for Black women to conform to beauty/presentability norms—like time-consuming hair choices before interviews—is a literal cost not shouldered by others.

Quote:

"I'm having to do all these extra calculations around my existence because I'm a Black woman... that blackness and that womanhood is that double tax." – Anna Gifty (10:54)

4. Why "Of Color" Is in Parentheses in the Book Title (11:10–12:35)

• Anna Gifty explains the choice reflects accuracy—while Black women face unique disadvantages, some metrics (e.g., retirement income, pay) are even worse for Latinas, Native, or Asian women. Still, she admits the core of her book centers on Black women.
• She also shares initial fear that other women’s spaces might disengage if the title was too direct, but found this concern unfounded.

Quote:

"This is the number one question I've gotten from Black women, which is like, now, girl, now, why did you say Black women? I'm like, I hear you." – Anna Gifty (12:18)

5. Personal Stories and the Power of Data (13:14–15:22)

• Writing the book was a personal process; Anna reveals she confronted insecurities like thoughts about skin bleaching and ongoing discouragement, often from white men in academic or professional spaces.
• The data validates what Black women have always known, and reading those stories offers emotional release and vindication.

Quote:

"I knew I wasn't going crazy. And that's like the best feeling in the world." – Anna Gifty (14:57)

6. The Political and Structural Attacks on Black Women’s Advancement (16:00–19:12)

• The rollback of DEI, scholarships, and college funding for women of color is not accidental; Anna calls these actors "enemies of progress" and "eugenicists" and describes a scheme to widen the racial wealth gap.
• Targeting Black women with mortgage fraud allegations is part of a strategy to prevent wealth accumulation and homeownership.

Memorable Moment:

• Anna boldly connects demographic and economic suppression efforts to a larger fear among the white establishment about becoming a minority demographic, arguing they are "trying to set systems in place that make it impossible for Black and brown people to advance" (18:20).

7. Community Response and Collective Power (19:12–25:26)

• Anna looks to the legacy of the Black Panthers' mutual aid and community programs as actionable blueprints—mutual support, resource pooling, and protection.
• She promotes unionization and collective action over isolation, addressing wage transparency ("talk openly about how much you're making" – 22:00) and community investment (e.g., public libraries).
• Economic security for Black people requires broad, systemic action: accessible childcare, strong public resources, strengthened unions, and policies like reparations and access to entrepreneurial capital.
• Black entrepreneurs are crucial as they're more likely to create jobs for Black workers (25:59).

Quote:

"These corporations don't care about you. I'm so sorry. They don't care. If you die today... they gonna put up an Indeed post talking about, we got a new opening." – Anna Gifty (23:08)

8. The Only Way Forward: Mutual Aid, Voting, and Policy Change

• Individual mutual aid is one lever to challenge injustice, but voting and policy advocacy remain fundamental, especially as anti-DEI and regressive economic policies intensify.
• The episode closes emphasizing collective responsibility and the dire need for engagement to secure an equitable future.

Quote:

"The only way forward toward progress is to support one another. Mutual aid sounds fringe to many, but sharing meals and resources is kind of where the onus stops for us as individuals to fight huge systemic injustice." – Akilah Hughes (26:17)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "This country is committed to bigotry. That's it. It's really not more complicated than that." – Anna Gifty (03:54)
• "If Black women are not able to bring in an income... you're taking money away from an entire ecosystem of people." – Anna Gifty (06:24)
• "I'm having to do all these extra calculations around my existence because I'm a Black woman... that double tax." – Anna Gifty (10:54)
• "They know that homeownership is tied to building wealth. Why is it that the two prominent Black women that they've attacked and accused of fraud – it's always mortgage fraud?" – Anna Gifty (17:05)
• "You out here spinning out on Blue Sky is not making the world better. Go and do something..." – Anna Gifty (21:02)
• "Black hiring managers are more likely to create jobs for Black people... that's why you want Black entrepreneurs." – Anna Gifty (25:58)
• "How is it better to strip women of color of opportunity... to appease the last gasp of white supremacy that refuses to honestly and earnestly compete? It's not." – Akilah Hughes (26:17)

Timestamps of Important Segments

• 00:18–01:50 – On the myth of meritocracy and increasing whiteness in government
• 02:10–03:50 – The absence of up-to-date data and workforce impacts for Black women
• 04:17–06:20 – “Last hired, first fired”: Summarizing systemic patterns in employment for Black women
• 06:24–07:04 – Why Black women’s economic outcomes affect everyone
• 08:34–11:10 – Defining and personalizing the “double tax”
• 12:18–12:35 – On choosing the book’s title and centering Black women’s experience
• 14:57 – “I knew I wasn’t going crazy”: Validating lived experiences with data
• 17:05–17:41 – Pattern of mortgage fraud allegations and intentional economic suppression
• 19:12–21:03 – Lessons from the Black Panther Party and the importance of mutual aid and collective care
• 22:00–23:08 – Wage transparency and the reality of corporate loyalty
• 25:58–26:17 – Black entrepreneurship as economic empowerment
• 26:17 – Closing: Mutual aid, voting, and the fight for equity

Overall Tone and Takeaway

The conversation is candid, sometimes blunt, but compassionate and solidly rooted in both lived experience and hard data. Both Akilah Hughes and Anna Gifty blend humor, personal anecdotes, and sharp policy critique to highlight that, far from being a marginal issue, the double tax on Black women is central to American economic health and justice—and demands collective, systemic remedy. The episode concludes with an urgent call for solidarity, mutual aid, voting, and ongoing community engagement.