The 47th president has upended business as usual, in federal government, in classrooms, in business.
Tariffs are here and gone tomorrow. Tantrums in the Oval Office. State Departments of Education are being threatened. Stock markets crashing, with the market logging its worst performance for a “new” president since 2009.
The 47th president promised no business as usual. What he meant was no business at all.
The disruption that has riddled both the federal government and our total way of life is, at best, disturbing. Not everyone is experiencing it, but everyone knows someone who is. What are we to do? I say that in the middle of disruption, of being shaken up, we go back to basics, back to our roots. What does that mean? We shop Black, work Black, live Black, aspire Black.
Those deluded folk who seemed to think that the 47th president would be better for the economy are now about to find out what Malcolm X meant when he talked about “chickens coming home to roost.”
We’ve been there, done that with government cutbacks. The most glaring history is that of the racist President Woodrow Wilson, who fired most of the senior Black people in his administration.
Most notably, the demotion of Daniel Murray, assistant librarian of Congress, was a disgrace that reminds us that those who serve at “the pleasure of the president” can be easily let go. Their firings may be challenged but the work of their agencies will slow, if not stop. And the 47th president’s overreaching has a chilling effect on the progress of some agencies.
The 47th president attempted to remove Gywnne Wilcox as a member of the National Labor Relations Board shortly after he was installed. A federal judge reminded 47 that he did not have the authority to fire the member of the independent agency.
In her decision, U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell wrote that “An American president is not a king — not even an elected one — and his power to remove federal officers and honest civil servants like plaintiff is not absolute.” The NLRB was crippled for a few weeks because it lacked a quorum. What else can we look forward to?
I am especially concerned about Smithsonian leader Dr. Lonnie Bunch, an amazing scholar and leader. His term lasts until 2027, but if he serves “at the pleasure” of a president who does not believe in Black history or diversity, his days may be numbered.
Similarly, Dr. Carla Hayden, the 14th librarian of Congress, was appointed by President Biden to serve as the first woman and the first African American in that role. Her term ends in 2026. 47 may hold his powder, or he may go after her sooner. These amazing public servants may find themselves on the chopping block.
It’s overtime for us to fight outward and build inward. Fight outward — protest, protest, protest. Build inward — strengthen our connections, work more collaboratively.
In 1919, the Harlem Renaissance poet Claude McKay wrote:
“If we must die, let it not be like hogs, hunted and penned to this inglorious spot. Pressed to the wall, dying but fighting back.”
Julianne Malveaux is an economist, author and commentator based in Washington, D.C.