High gas prices. Rising grocery bills. Inflation. A war most Americans don’t want.
Those are the economic pressures weighing on working families across the country. But many Black St. Louisans interviewed by The St. Louis American said those burdens have become even heavier under President Donald Trump, pointing not only to the rising cost of living but also to administration policies they believe have disproportionately affected Black communities.
Residents interviewed for this story cited the administration’s rollback of diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, changes in civil rights enforcement and efforts to reshape how Black history is taught in schools as part of a broader climate that has left them feeling increasingly uncertain about the future.
The Black unemployment rate stands at 6.6%, compared with 4.3% nationally, 3.8% for white workers and 5.0% for Hispanic workers.
For decades, federal employment has provided many Black families with a reliable pathway into the middle class, particularly after passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 expanded access to government jobs.
That pathway has narrowed during the Trump administration’s workforce reductions. Bureau of Labor Statistics data shows the federal workforce has shrunk by roughly 277,000 jobs. An analysis by the Economic Policy Institute found those reductions disproportionately affected Black workers, particularly Black women, who accounted for more than 95,000 government job losses in 2025 alone.
“If the President wants to improve the Black jobless rate, he needs to stop firing federal workers,” Gbenga Ajilore, chief economist at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, told TheGrio earlier this month.
More than half of Americans said the conflict involving the United States, Israel and Iran has been harmful to the nation, according to a recent Brookings Institution poll. Nearly 70% of Black Americans surveyed opposed the war.
National research has found that Black drivers spend a larger share of their income on gasoline than white drivers. Economists at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis have also found that inflation falls hardest on lower- and middle-income households because necessities such as housing, groceries, transportation and utilities consume a greater share of their budgets, leaving less room to absorb higher prices.
Oil market volatility during the conflict briefly pushed the national average price of gasoline above $4.25 per gallon in early June. Prices in the St. Louis area have since eased to about $3.30.
“Gas prices are just too damn high,” Michael Cole said outside the Crown Mart Mobil station on North 13th Street in Old North.
“They got that thing going on over there with the Strait of Hormuz … my President, Mr. Obama, didn’t start that. We all know who did,” Cole said. “He’s boosted prices of everything, not just gas but food and housing, too.”
According to U.S. Department of Agriculture data, grocery prices rose 2.3% in 2025 and another 2.9% this year.
For Shea Brown, the numbers become real every time she walks into the grocery store. Standing inside the Save A Lot on Page Boulevard, Brown pointed toward a freezer case filled with chicken.
“They are ridiculous! These prices are so high, it’s impossible to shop for anything,” she said. “You used to be able to go to the store with $50 and get half a cart full of things. Now, you buy three items and that’s your $50.”
Like Cole, Brown blamed Trump for the higher cost of living.
When reminded that the administration says the conflict has ended, she shook her head.
“He started it, but it’s not over,” she said. “It won’t be over until all the people he’s messed with gets their git-back.”
“What’s worse is that we have a war brewing on our home front,” Brown said. “He’s done everything in his power to pit us against them. There’s going to be a revolt and it won’t be good.”
For Kayla Boyd, 26, who works in the insurance industry, Trump represents something larger than one presidency.
“Things may have started with him, and I hope things end with him,” Boyd said. “But, you know, it’s much bigger than him. The problem with this country is that it started off on the wrong foundation. It started off by taking other people’s stuff and that’s the problem today.”
“You know, the question sometimes becomes, ‘Really, what can you do?’ Protest? What will that do? Getting violent only brings more violence. We all know things are really bad. We all know gas is unaffordable … but what’s the next step? I just don’t know.”
Jayla M. Williams, 21, a recent graduate of the University of Health Sciences and Pharmacy and a St. Louis County resident, worries about what lies immediately ahead.
“It’s scary and devastating where everything is headed,” Williams said. “You have AI taking jobs from people; you have people barely able to make enough to live a basic standard of living. I just graduated. I’m worried about what’s going to happen in the near future. Will I find a good-paying job? Will I be able to start a family with the way things are headed? Things like that.”
Back at the gas station in Old North, James, 28, watched the numbers continue climbing on the pump.
“They’re high as [expletive]!” he said. “I can barely pull off the lot before I need some more gas. They say it’s all about inflation or whatever else this country has going on, but to me, it all seems greedy.”
“Everything has gone south,” he continued. “I just think we need to get prepared … voting, protesting … whatever. We have to get ready.”
Nearby, Darius Brown said he is especially troubled by the administration’s efforts to dismantle DEI programs and reduce Black history instruction in public schools.
“We need to get together as a community and not just as individuals,” Brown said. “We need to vote together, protest together — all of it. We need to look out for one another and do things as a whole.”
Sylvester Brown Jr. is the Deaconess Foundation Community Advocacy Fellow.