How the Trump Administration Is Quietly Resegregating the American Workforce

This article is part of TPM Cafe, TPM’s home for opinion and news analysis. It was originally published at Balls and Strikes. When President Donald Trump took office in January 2025, the national unemployment rate was at 4 percent overall, and at 5.3 percent for Black workers. On Tuesday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released its November 2025 dataset, and although the total unemployment rate is at 4.6 percent, the Black unemployment rate has soared to 8.3 percent - the highest level since August 2021. One contributing factor is Trump’s mass firings of federal employees. Black people disproportionately work in the public sector, representing nearly 19 percent of the federal workforce compared to 13 percent of the civilian workforce. And they have been disproportionately impacted by Trump’s purges: Analyses by ProPublica and The New York Times found that the administration conducted its steepest staff cuts at the agencies with the most nonwhite and women workers, like the Department of Education and the U.S. Agency for International Development. But the federal layoffs offer only a partial explanation. What the data is beginning to reveal is the devastating cumulative effects of the Trump administration’s policies for workers of color. In January, for instance, Trump revoked an executive order that President Lyndon B. Johnson signed in 1965 which prohibited companies with government contracts from engaging in racial discrimination. Johnson’s order required contractors to “take affirmative action” to ensure that applicants are hired (and employees are treated) without regard to their race. For decades, Johnson’s executive order helped increase the representation of people of color and white women. For example, a longitudinal study spanning from 1973 to 2003 found that the affirmative action initiatives increased Native American employment by nearly 4 percent. Another analysis of Equal Employment Opportunity Commission data from 1978 to 2004 concluded that the share of Black workers at government contractors continued to increase even after a contract ended and the employer was no longer subject to the regulations. Now, Trump is blocking that important vehicle for integrating the workplace, characterizing it as “illegal DEI,” referring to diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. Instead of requiring companies to take affirmative action, Trump is requiring companies to certify that they are not “promoting DEI.” The administration also did not define the term, effectively discouraging companies that want to keep their government contracts from engaging in any activity that could conceivably be characterized as DEI. For reference, to date, the things the administration has decried as DEI include the Calibri font and indoor plumbing in Black neighborhoods . On top of trying to prevent people of color from entering the workforce, the administration is making it easier to kick them out. Since taking office, Trump has claimed to possess limitless power to fire executive branch officers for any reason, including reasons that violate federal antidiscrimination law. Earlier this month, former immigration judge Tania Nemer sued the Trump administration and alleged that Trump fired her because of her sex, national origin, and political affiliation. Before...

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