Potentially devastating: gutting of federal workforce hits Black America hardest [Video]

Federal data shows that Black Americans, who have historically found greater equity in the public sector compared to the private sector, will disproportionately bear the brunt of Trump’s effort to gut the federal workforce. “These forms of employment in service to the nation were actually one of the few areas that Black people could rely upon to enter the middle class. It’s potentially devastating, the loss of that sector,” says Harvard professor and best-selling author Imani Perry. This is not the first time it’s been tried by a U.S. President, warns Errin Haines, editor-at-large of The 19th*. “This is why it’s so important to know history… Taking a page right out of Woodrow Wilson’s playbook.”Feb. 9, 2025