Obama Wants Women to be Able to Sue for Equal Pay

America is one of the worst countries in the world when it comes to gender equity in the workplace. This is sad considering 2011 will mark the year when women become the majority of America's workforce. The powerful contributions of women to our nation's economy are contradicted by the reality that most corporations do not go far enough to provide protections for working mothers or remedies for discrimination they face. As a result, women still earn just 77 cents for every dollar earned by a man.

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Barack Obama Timeline

President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama have made history as the first African Americans to hold these iconic positions. Meet some of the figures that paved the way for his success as a politician.

Charles Dharapak, AP

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Barack Obama Timeline

Reconstruction Era - The First Senators, 1870-1881: The first blacks to serve in the U.S. Congress were appointed during the post-Civil War period in which the integration of former slaves and free blacks was required by the federal government. U.S. Senator Hiram Revels (right), was the first African American to serve in either branch of Congress. Revels was appointed by the Mississippi state legislature in 1870 and served for only one year. Also from the state of Mississippi, Blanche K. Bruce (left) was the first black U.S. senator to serve a full term. A former slave, Bruce performed his duties from 1875 to 1881.

Barack Obama Timeline

End of the Era - The Last Congressmen by 1901: Joseph Rainey (right), became the first black person to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives in 1870. A Republican from South Carolina, he was elected by popular vote to a subsequent term. But by the time of Rainey's election, the pressure on the South to grant blacks equal rights began to wane. George Henry White (left) was the last black congressman from the South to serve for 78 years after completing his 1897-1901 term. After his term, blacks were effectively shut out of the political process by racist practices until the civil rights movement of the '60s.

Barack Obama Timeline

The 20th Century - New Hope for Black Politicians: Oscar Stanton DePriest was the first black person to be elected to Congress in the 20th century. A Chicago politico just like Barack, DePriest was a Republican who fought for civil rights from a conservative angle. In serving as a congressman from March 1929 - Jan. 1935, DePriest became a national symbol of African American pride, much like Barack Obama is today.

Barack Obama Timeline

The Birth of Barack Obama, August 4, 1961: Barack Obama, Jr. was born in Honolulu, the son of Ann Dunham (pictured here) and Barack Obama, Sr., a student from Kenya. Some say that his upbringing in Hawaii is what gives Obama his "no drama" demeanor. President Obama's mother was 18 at the time of his birth, and would file for divorce from Barack, Sr. by 1964. The struggles Ann faced as a working-class single mom would figure prominently in many of Barack's campaign speeches.

Barack Obama Timeline

A New Dream - Dr. King's Speech, 1963: When Dr. Martin Luther King articulated his dream of an America that would become a place free of racial prejudice, Barack Obama was a tiny boy. Yet, the movement led by Dr. King marked a pivotal phase in the evolution of our society that would eventually lead to Obama's presidency.

Barack Obama Timeline

Dream Into Reality - The Voting Rights Act of 1965: With the success of the civil rights Movement, the power of black voters finally became an important part of the political process. Here we see President Lyndon B. Johnson signing the Voting Rights Act of 1965 into law, allowing for the enfranchisement of blacks over the following decades. Empowered black voters were an important ingredient in the success of President Obama's campaign.

Barack Obama Timeline

The First Elected Black Senator - Edward William Brooke, III, 1967: Edward William Brooke, III blazed the trail for Barack Obama by becoming the first African American to reach the United States Senate through a general election. A Republican, he served from Jan. 3, 1967 - Jan. 3, 1979, representing the state of Massachusetts for two terms. Brooke was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2004.

Barack Obama Timeline

An International Youth - Barack in Indonesia, 1967: By 1967, President Obama's mother met and fell in love with Lolo Soetoro. They married, and the new family moved to Soetoro's native Indonesia. Barack was six when he left Hawaii, but would move back to the United States at the age of 10. This exposure to a different culture at a young age gave Barack the tolerant perspective he uses to bridge divides as president.

Barack Obama Timeline

Dreaming of a Father - Meeting Barack, Sr., 1971: Barack Obama, Sr. visited his son only once after the end of his marriage to Ann. Barack, Jr. was 10 years old and living in Hawaii. Obama wrote of this interaction: "After a week of my father in the flesh, I decided that I preferred his more distant image, an image I could alter on a whim" ('Dreams from my Father,' 2005). Did Obama's absence of a father spur him to develop himself into an impeccable father figure?

Barack Obama Timeline

What is most interesting is that the gap in pay tends to disappear when women with families are taken out of the equation. The conclusion is that many women are forced to decide between having a family and pursuing a career. Men are not forced to make such difficult decisions. Those women who choose to become mothers (which is the most important job in the world) are punished for their commitment to their children by losing their status within the companies to which they've given so much.

President Obama is taking a step toward correcting this problem. The White House recently announced that the president will be pushing forth legislation to make it easier for women to sue when companies have been found to be discriminatory. The legislation would put gender discrimination on par with racial discrimination, allowing for a broader array of damages. It would reduce the number of excuses companies can provide for the pay gap. It would also punish companies that retaliate against those who file such lawsuits.

Of course Republicans are already fighting the new bill.
"The bill is a cruel hoax. It won't empower women who face pay discrimination, but it will empower trial lawyers whose junk lawsuits will clog up the courts and make it hard for businesses to grow and hire," said Michael Steel, spokesman for House Republican leader John Boehner of Ohio.

The new law is a necessary step toward the creation of gender equity in our society. I am hopeful that the president can find the courage to be equally aggressive in fighting racial discrimination, which is also a serious problem in corporate America. Strangely enough, I am concerned that Obama being a black man will make him self-conscious about fighting for laws to protect other black people. That, my friends, is unfortunate.

Dr. Boyce Watkins is the founder of the Your Black World Coalition and a Scholarship in Action resident of the Institute for Black Public Policy. To have Dr. Boyce's commentary delivered to your e-mail, please click here.