By Jobie Crawford
Guest Column
July 10 was Black Women’s Equal Pay Day, the day when Black women’s earnings finally catch up to what white, non-Hispanic men earned in the previous year. On average, Black women are paid just 66 cents for every dollar paid to white men. This pay gap reflects ongoing disparities in access to fair wages, quality jobs, and economic opportunity.
This is only getting worse in Trump’s America. From limiting job access for Black women by weakening anti-discrimination policies in hiring to decreasing employment opportunities by gutting the Minority Business Development Agency, Trump’s policies have made it harder for Black women to support their families and earn a living. Add to that his massive cuts to Medicaid and SNAP along with his efforts to gut funding for fair housing programs — time and again, he is putting Black women last and billionaires first.
Below are some of the ways that Trump’s agenda is making life harder and more expensive for Black women:
* Dismantling the Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA), which fought to secure $1.6B in capital and helped businesses create or retain 23,000 jobs before Trump’s executive order effectively shut it down.
+ The MBDA was the only federal agency dedicated to supporting minority-owned businesses, and Trump’s decision to dismantle it puts Black entrepreneurs — especially Black women, the fastest-growing group of U.S. business owners — at risk of losing critical access to contracts, capital, and technical assistance.
* Signing a budget that will strip Medicaid coverage from 17 million people, disproportionately harming Black Americans.
+ Imposing strict Medicaid work requirements penalize people of color in a job market still plagued by racial discrimination — with one study finding that equally qualified Black applicants were half as likely to receive callbacks as white applicants.
* Pushing Black women business owners out of the market by gutting supplier diversity and federal DEI programs.
+ Black women face a loan rejection rate three times higher than white business owners and are bearing the brunt of DEI rollbacks fueled by Trump’s executive orders and pressure on corporations to abandon equity programs.
* Shutting down the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), which helped protect Black Americans from racial economic inequality, and putting Black homeowners, consumers, and borrowers at risk.
+ Since 2011, the CFPB has returned nearly $20 billion to almost 200 million Americans and taken action against discriminatory mortgage lending, overdraft fees, and credit card late fees that disproportionately harmed Black families.
* Slashing SNAP by hundreds of billions of dollars — which could rip away food assistance from more than 22 million families and worsen food insecurity in Black communities.
+ Black families rely on SNAP at higher rates due to structural inequality, and evidence shows the program helps narrow racial gaps in food insecurity.
* Attempting to eliminate Section 8 and other rental assistance programs while also slashing staff who enforce fair housing laws by over 75%.
+ These actions come as Black renters are more cost-burdened than any other racial group, with less than 10% able to afford a typical home. Meanwhile, HUD hotlines were shut down, and $30 million in grants to fair housing nonprofits were canceled.
Black women are being hit especially hard by Trump’s agenda — seeing Medicaid, SNAP, and housing assistance cut and critical business support and DEI programs dismantled. His actions threaten the progress Black women have made as entrepreneurs, workers, and community leaders. Democrats are committed to fighting back — protecting civil rights, defending economic opportunity, and ensuring Black women have the resources and support they need to thrive.
Thanks,
Jobie Crawford, Spokesperson, Democratic National Committee
Ed Note: Jobie Crawford, 24, served as a press assistant for former Vice President Kamala Harris. A Spelman alumnus, Crawford traveled around the country, ensuring the press has access to the VP. Crawford previously served as a researcher on President Biden’s Communications team. She’s also a bit of a wunderkind, having consistently been the youngest member of every White House team she served on.