This year, more than 300,000 Black women were removed from the U.S. workforce – pushed out by federal job cuts, targeted layoffs, and an aggressive rollback of diversity, equity, and inclusion protections, regardless of talent or individual impact.
This wasn’t a market correction. It’s a deliberate reshaping of who gets to belong.
As those jobs vanish, the “only” burden on the Black women who remain gets heavier. They’re more likely to be the only Black woman on the team, carrying more labor, less pay and more risk – while the budgets and political support that were supposed to protect them are quietly dismantled.
Black women are a large share of the public sector, education, healthcare and DEI-adjacent roles – the precise areas facing political and budgetary attacks. When those cuts come, Black women are first in line to feel them.
Pew Research data makes clear that Black workers live in a different labor market than everyone else. About 41% of Black workers say they have experienced discrimination or unfair treatment. When you look at gender, 53% of Black women say they’ve faced at least one form of gender discrimination at work, compared with 40% of white women and 40% of Hispanic women. Therefore, Black women sit at the intersection of the most racially targeted group and the most gender-targeted group.
Pew also found that among Black adults who have experienced discrimination, most say systems are set up for them to fail and that they must work harder than others just to get ahead. That’s not a coincidence. When organizations cut DEI roles, slash program budgets, and downplay racial equity, Black women don’t just lose jobs – they lose infrastructure and we can’t ask Black women to “lean in” to systems that are actively pushing them out.
Organizations that care about equity cannot treat 300,000 lost jobs as background noise. At a minimum, they should audit who’s being cut, promoted and protected; spread DEI responsibilities across leadership so it’s not “outsourced” to the few Black women on staff; and adopt “credit clarity” norms in meetings where leaders explicitly name whose idea or labor is being presented, instead of letting contributions be absorbed by more senior leaders. The contributions of Black women must be recognized publicly, like everyone else.
Black women have power as well to obtain training on how to document contributions, decisions and incidents so credit and patterns of bias are trackable; connect with bar associations or civil rights groups to access advice early; and build networks through Black Chambers, as you always need an advocate and support.
With an election coming up, it must be noted that policy is not neutral. The same political project that is attacking diversity, equity, and inclusion is driving layoffs and shrinking opportunities for Black women, although, let’s be clear, the greatest beneficiaries of these programs are white women. Nonetheless, candidates must be explicit: protecting Black women’s jobs and leadership is a core economic justice priority. This isn’t just about jobs. It’s about who gets to shape institutions, raise their voice without punishment, and be seen as essential.
We must get to a place, although it will not be easy, where we finally decided that Black women’s work, leadership and lives are not expendable.
