Every year during Women’s History Month, we celebrate the contributions women have made to this country’s economy, democracy, and social movements. But celebration without honesty is incomplete.
As a political scientist who studies Black women, public policy, and the South, I am deeply concerned by what we are witnessing right now: the quiet erasure of Black women from the labor force.
Black women have historically been among the most consistent participants in the American workforce. Even during periods when other groups of women were discouraged or prevented from working, Black women labored inside homes, hospitals, classrooms, factories, and government offices to ensure stability for their families and communities. Our labor has always been essential to us and this country.
However, at this moment there are policy decisions that are pushing Black women out of stable employment in ways that should concern anyone who cares about economic stability and especially that of the South.
In 2025 during the first six months of Trump’s second term there were federal job cuts, attacks on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, and the shrinking of public sector jobs and careers!
Over 300,000 Black women lost jobs. The public sector and government have historically provided one of the most reliable pathways to economic stability for Black women.
From educators, public health workers, state government workers and administrative professionals, Black women have long depended on these jobs not only for employment but security. When these jobs disappeared, the impact was immediate and widespread. Families lost primary breadwinners and communities lost economic anchors.
This is especially consequential for the education sector, where Black women are overrepresented as educators, administrators, and support staff—roles that are foundational to student success across the South.
The South has always depended heavily on Black women’s labor. From caregiving and education to community organizing and public service, Black women have been the backbone of Southern economic life. However, despite this reality, our labor remains undervalued, and our contributions frequently erased from policy conversations as seen in the first half of Trump’s second administration.
As someone who has spent nearly two decades working in public policy, the public sector and community engagement, I have seen firsthand how these structural inequities operate. This destruction will reproduce long-standing racial and gender inequalities in practice and often through policy.
When policymakers fail to center Black women in economic policy, they miss a critical opportunity to strengthen the workforce for everyone.
Black feminist scholars have long argued that the conditions facing Black women workers reveal the health of the broader economy. In fact, economists often view rising unemployment among Black women as an early indicator of broader economic instability.
Black women are the canaries in the coal mine!
In other words, when Black women begin to fall out of the workforce, the rest of the economy is often not far behind.
But this trajectory is not inevitable. It is the result of policy choices, and it can be changed through policy choices as well.
If we want a stronger and more equitable workforce in the South, policymakers must prioritize investments that support Black women’s economic and workforce participation.
That includes rebuilding public sector employment at the state and local levels, expanding access to affordable childcare, strengthening workplace equity protections, and investing in workforce development opportunities that open pathways into higher-paying industries.
As a scholar and policy practitioner, I believe deeply that when we value Black women’s labor, we value Black women’s lives in the words of bell hooks.
That is why these conversations are so urgent right now.
This month, during Women’s History Month, scholars, policymakers, and community leaders will gather for the 3rd Black Women & Public Policy in the South Symposium: Centering Black Women’s Work, Worth, and Well-Being in the South, hosted by the W.E.B. Du Bois Southern Center for Studies in Public Policy at Clark Atlanta University.
The symposium is designed to confront the very questions our nation too often avoids: What happens when Black women’s labor is undervalued? How do policies shape Black women’s economic opportunities? And what would it look like to truly center Black women in public policy decisions?
Because the truth is simple: the South cannot build a strong economic future while erasing the labor of Black women.
And during Women’s History Month, the most powerful way to honor Black women’s contributions is not just to celebrate them but to fight for policies that ensure their work, worth, and well-being are finally recognized.
Dr. Nykia Greene-Young is Domestic Policy Coordinator at the W.E.B. Du Bois Southern Center for Studies in Public Policy at Clark Atlanta University, where she focuses on Black women’s labor, public policy, and economic equity in the South. She is a political scientist with nearly two decades of experience in public policy, research, and community engagement.
