Young Black Queen_

We get probably a tenth of what a Caucasian woman gets. And I’m number one on the call sheet, and then I have to go in and I have to hustle for my worth.

I got the Oscar, I got the Emmy, I got the two Tonys, I’ve done Broadway, I’ve done off-Broadway, I’ve done TV, I’ve done film, I’ve done all of it. I have a career that’s probably comparable to Meryl Streep, Julianne Moore, Sigourney Weaver - They all came out of Yale, they came out of Julliard, they came out of NYU. They had the same path as me.

And yet, I am nowhere near them. Not as far as money, not as far as job opportunities, nowhere near close to it. I have to constantly get on that phone, and people say, “You’re a black Meryl Streep. You are, and we love you. We love you. There is no one like you.”

Okay, then if there’s no one like me - you think I’m that - you pay me when I’m worth. You give me what I’m worth. 

Bethann Hardison on racism in the fashion industry.