In August, Trump initiated firing Fed Governor Lisa Cook. The Supreme Court allows Trump to fire leadership at independent agencies, but “[drew] a line around the Fed,” avoiding higher inflation and government borrowing costs. Can Trump take over the Federal Reserve? And, why Cook instead of Fed Chair Jay Powell?
Trump also fired Gwynne Wilcox, the first Black woman to serve on the National Labor Relations Board, the only federal agency protecting organizing, unionizing, and bargaining rights for nongovernment workers. Wilcox is the first NLRB member ever to be fired by a president. And while he was at it, Trump fired the first Black Librarian of Congress, Carla Hayden, over “DEI.”
Mass firings of federal employees helped push 300,000 Black women out of the workforce over just three months. Black women comprise 6% of the U.S. workforce but 12% of the federal workforce.
Trump is also actively working to delegitimize Black women leading Black communities, like Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee and Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Texas, whom he demanded take an “IQ test” and calls “congresswoman” (in quotes).
It’s all part of a larger propagandist narrative: that people like Trump face oppression and disempowerment through “white genocide” and “replacement.” When we talk about protecting Black women, these are the insidious narratives we must resist.