I have a friend in New York City who is a single mom, raising her child with absolutely no assistance from the child's father. A college graduate laid off since last April, she receives "too much" in unemployment benefits to qualify for economic assistance, and with the education budget cut, she now has to buy snacks for her child that ordinarily the school would have provided. She is struggling to secure reliable transportation and unsure about the viability of her future.

With unemployment in New York standing at 8.2 percent, unfortunately, her situation is not unique.

According to the latest report from New York University's Women of Color Policy Network, 'At Rope's End,' single women of color are most likely to be left without wealth. Defined as the balance between assets and debt, wealth is essential to ensuring that our families are able to survive tough economic times. For single minority mothers, whose situations are exacerbated by economic disparities due to race and gender, the situation is dire.

With conservatives battling to eradicate any and all programs in place to alleviate the economic difficulties people find themselves in due to disastrous overspending and administrative decisions, it is projected that relief is nowhere on the horizon. 'At Ropes End' details some of the disturbing findings:

• Single mothers possess only 4 percent of the wealth of single fathers: $100 compared to $25,300.

• Race and ethnicity are significant factors. Black and Latino single mothers have a median wealth of zero, whereas white women report a median wealth of $6,000.

• In 2009, 23 percent of white women who were heads of households with children lived in poverty, compared with 40 percent of African American and Latino female-headed households.

• Younger single mothers experience the greatest disadvantage in terms of wealth and assets: More than half of single mothers under the age of 40 have zero or negative wealth.

• More than three-quarters of single mothers have debt of some kind. The most common debt for single mothers is credit card debt followed by installment debt.

Malcolm X said:

"The most disrespected, neglected and unprotected person in America is the black woman."

This study makes this even more glaringly obvious because it highlights the fact that the current economic climate ensures that minority women in poverty is the rule, not the exception.

As a society, women in general, and minority women specifically, have historically been at a disadvantage. To only discuss wealth is to place a band-aid over the broader issue, which is the need to reignite the dormant discussion of the lack and quality of educational and professional opportunities available to minority women.

White privilege in this country is not a myth, neither is male privilege.

It is interwoven into the fabric of this country, and one need look no further than this study to understand the ramifications. A minority woman is born having to be 10 steps ahead of everyone else in the rat race of not only success, but survival.

Racism and misogyny are twin devils that have always gripped this country, and with single minority women bearing the brunt of this depression, that paradigm needs to shift. There needs to be an acceptance of the fact that this generation of women is just a part of the continuum of inequality. It also needs to be acknowledged that if the playing field were level from the beginning, the world we live in would be vastly different.

After acknowledgment, must come action, and with it, accountability. Our communities are our responsibility, and in the face of such disheartening statistics, we must be driven to find concrete solutions that will empower our women and children and the generations to come.