A sweeping rollback of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs under the Trump administration has left Black women disproportionately affected, according to an investigation by ProPublica. The nonprofit newsroom found that the administration’s broad executive actions to dismantle DEI programs have upended the careers of many long-serving civil servants, despite their jobs having no direct connection to diversity initiatives. ProPublica’s report centers on the experiences of several Black women who were placed on administrative leave or terminated following the reimplementation of Trump’s DEI policies during his second term. One of them, Quay Crowner, a seasoned federal manager with over 20 years in human resources roles at agencies like the IRS and the Government Accountability Office, was removed from her position at the Department of Education despite her work not involving DEI mandates. The only aspect of her role that tangentially related to DEI was helping students navigate financial aid applications—a service not restricted by race or background.
When Crowner compared her experience with colleagues from other agencies, a pattern emerged: most were Black women who had once attended diversity training programs previously encouraged by Trump’s own Education Secretary, Betsy DeVos, in 2020. Crowner and hundreds of others are now part of a class-action complaint filed with the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board. The lawsuit, supported by the ACLU’s Washington branch, argues that the administration violated First Amendment protections and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act by disproportionately targeting non-White and non-male employees. Kelly Dermody, one of the attorneys representing the plaintiffs, said approximately 90% of those targeted in the DEI-related dismissals are women or nonbinary, and nearly 80% of them are people of color—most of whom are Black women.
The Education Department, where Crowner worked, previously had a staff that was majority non-White, with Black women making up about 28% of the workforce. Since the Trump administration’s return, the department’s staff has reportedly been reduced by 46%. By contrast, less diverse agencies like the Department of Justice and the Department of Energy saw only minor staffing changes: one percent and 13% respectively. Ronicsa Chambers, a former finance officer at the Federal Aviation Administration and recipient of the FAA’s Air Traffic Manager of the Year award in 2022, was also let go despite her current role not involving DEI functions. She and her team (comprised of five Black women and one disabled White man) were told they would be reassigned. None were. “We’re the only ones still on administrative leave,” Chambers told ProPublica.
Legal experts say the case will likely hinge on the argument of ‘disparate impact,’ a foundational civil rights concept now under threat following Trump’s April executive order attempting to eliminate the doctrine from federal enforcement. Sherrell Pyatt, who worked across five federal agencies over more than a decade, was dismissed from the Department of Homeland Security’s Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties in March along with nearly 150 others. Her dismissal had immediate consequences. As the primary breadwinner for her family, she now worries about affording her mortgage and paying tuition for her daughters’ school. “It’s absolutely a way to attack people of color, people who are differently abled, people who don’t agree with what this administration is,” Pyatt said.
According to the Pew Research Center, Black people account for about 18.6% of the federal workforce—well above their 12.8% share of the overall U.S. labor force. In states like Mississippi, Georgia, Maryland, Louisiana, and the District of Columbia, African Americans represent more than 30% of the labor force, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. “The federal government has been crucial to stepping up for a segment of Black America,” said Marcus Casey, an economist at the University of Illinois Chicago. “It offered a pathway to white-collar work, skill-building, and future opportunities that wouldn’t have existed otherwise.” The impact of Trump’s DEI purge continues to reverberate through families, careers, and communities once buoyed by stable government employment. “We did what we were supposed to do,” Pyatt said through tears. “And it just doesn’t matter.”
