As a 20 something black femal,e, is there any way to travel Western Europe on a budget ( and would it be safe

How much do you think I woudl need (I'd be coming from the US)

There are alot of ways to travel to europe safely. Such as with a group put together by a travel agency. You can tell a travel agent of your plans and he/she can find the safest way for you to travel on a budget. You can even pay for your trip in installments to the agency if they offer that as an option. Check it out in the yellow pages under travel.

You need to look into getting a rail pass, back-packing and staying at youth hostels. They are the cheapest and safest way to travel. If you're prepared to stay in a dormitary style room that is the cheapest. You can prepare your own food in hostels so saving you a lot of money not eating out all the time. You will get to meet lots of other young travellers from all over the world. Being black and/or female is irrelevent. You would be surprised how many black people there are in Europe. Most people would consider western Europe to be safer generally than America.
I'd look into joining the YHA and buying a book like Lonely Planet (or similar) as well as getting a rail pass that suits. How much money you need is going to depend on how much style you need to travel in, what kind of attractions you want to see, how much you eat out, how long you're going for etc. etc.

I'm sure you will love it.

Train, or coach travel will offer all sorts of options, or you might consider one of the cross-country river cruises. You can, for example travel the Danube by hotel-ship, or you might try a shorter trip, say, from Hamburg down to Prague.

As long as you avoid the red light areas, you are not likely to encounter any problems with personal security.

I would, however, advise a guided package tour for your first visit.

Here are some options:
http://www.customeurotours.com/
http://www.gobarging.com/
http://www.globalcoachtours.com/
http://www.erail.co.uk/

Why the emphasize on black female? Now, if you're the loud mouth, cussing, fussing and neck twisting with the rolling of the eyes, "sistah", ain't no place safe especially traveling over seas. The last thing you want to do is bring alot of wrong attention to yourself. Let this black brother ( only used here as a point of reference) help a sophisticated lady out. Try www.ytb.com/tosoar

Im going this summer to Greece with a group. If safety is your main concern, may I suggest going with a group or at least a friend. Me and my friend booked through EF College Break. Its this 18-26 thing. My trip is like 2,500 for two weeks, everything but lunch, dinner and suvineers included pretty much. So the two and a half grand is for airfare, hotels and other stuff. Maybe you should check them out. You can also use the discount code hesseln1188 to get you $50 off. If you want to go by yourself though, I would look at kayak for flights, and budget about $150 american per day for everything. (the dollar is really weak at the moment >.<) so id say for two weeks, arround 3 grand. Good luck and have fun! hope this helped.