In Washington, D.C. — where African Americans make up more than 30% of the labor force and Black women have historically viewed government service as a pathway to upward mobility — President Donald Trump’s purge of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs has delivered a punishing blow.

According to a December 2024 report by the D.C. Policy Center , the District’s prime working-age labor force participation rate has consistently outpaced the national average, climbing from 86.6% in 2010 to 91.5% in 2023. Despite this progress, the report also shows that Black D.C. residents continue to experience lower labor force participation rates than their white counterparts — a disparity that widened by 3.7 percentage points between 2010 and 2023.

The divide has only grown under Trump’s sec

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