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https://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/black-federal-job-cuts-trump-musk-dei-middle-class-rcna191704
I know how Trump/Musk etc think. They think black people have “jeans” for “music” and “sports” and everything else is “DEI”.
In this worldview, I would have “jeans” for “professional mental case museum exhibit, parrot-cat-human hybrid mimic!”. Didn’t even make top 10 on my list of aspirations, which I didn’t really have (beyond vaguely “scientist”)and this might be an argument in favor of having such a list going forward.
Besides parrot-cat-human hybrids aren’t very reliably susceptible to pro-fascist trickery and affinities for underdogs and so on can show up in unpredictable ways. Or not. Probably why it is rarely an unpaid, non-profession of non-choice which can destroyed by the human annoyance of a choir of fell parrot-cat-hybrids devoid of any human personality beyond susceptibility to dickweeds. The fell hand of “Dudesy” at work in that para.
While their creepy, but slightly more hypocritical fellow travelers at Google and Facebook hijacked affirmative action to specifically poison the public’s mind against it by associating “wokeness” fraudulently with some of the most hated tech cos ever.
The human brain isn’t very rational and often just as people are pleasantly surprised to find easy reprieves from hatreds, people love the stress relief of freedom to hate. What else can explain the world out there.
The latter is a bitter pill that leads nowhere. The former needs tending like a very low maintenance sapling in order to grow into a tree whose shade only kicks out a few creeps, sleazebags, jerks and such..
Anyway, this is pretty much the shittiest thing they did. I can’t feel it entirely because my brain is mostly combating a horrible machinic whine quite possibly or not (not knowing is part of the fun!)
Jokes aside that was a really shitty thing to do.
I don’t know if you follow Christopher Ketcham Rhiannon. He is one of my favorite environmental journalists, just as Yasha Levine is my other favorite journalist.
My entire internet feed is an increasingly possibly at least subtly vandalized social experiment. I wonder what gets across.
The one plus is that the net is not entirely ruined for communication whether it is repellant ai refusing to stfu, once humans can guage humans adequately from fairly little info.
Trump broke my human guaging abilities. He is too extreme to induce much but hopelessness until now when there is no way Trumpism will survive but who or what else is collateral damage remains to be seen. So tired of being that. Mitt Romney was detestable. Trump lies so outside anything sane..It is a futile attempt but no one told the Idiocracy that there are greater fears humans have than of looking ridiculous, such as what happens if you make someone truly scary look ridiculous.
I think the danger is past in my network. But unpleasant still.
I know how Trump/Musk etc think. They think black people have “jeans” for “music” and “sports” and everything else is “DEI”.
In this worldview, I would have “jeans” for “professional mental case museum exhibit, parrot-cat-human hybrid mimic!”. Didn’t even make top 10 on my list of aspirations, which I didn’t really have (beyond vaguely “scientist”)and this might be an argument in favor of having such a list going forward.
Besides parrot-cat-human hybrids aren’t very reliably susceptible to pro-fascist trickery and affinities for underdogs and so on can show up in unpredictable ways. Or not. Probably why it is rarely an unpaid, non-profession of non-choice which can destroyed by the human annoyance of a choir of fell parrot-cat-hybrids devoid of any human personality beyond susceptibility to dickweeds. The fell hand of “Dudesy” at work in that para.
While their creepy, but slightly more hypocritical fellow travelers at Google and Facebook hijacked affirmative action to specifically poison the public’s mind against it by associating “wokeness” fraudulently with some of the most hated tech cos ever.
The human brain isn’t very rational and often just as people are pleasantly surprised to find easy reprieves from hatreds, people love the stress relief of freedom to hate. What else can explain the world out there.
The latter is a bitter pill that leads nowhere. The former needs tending like a very low maintenance sapling in order to grow into a tree whose shade only kicks out a few creeps, sleazebags, jerks and such..
Anyway, this is pretty much the shittiest thing they did. I can’t feel it entirely because my brain is mostly combating a horrible machinic whine quite possibly or not (not knowing is part of the fun!)
Much of the Black middle class was built by federal jobs. That may change.
For the last several decades, federal jobs helped Black workers find stable work with guardrails to prevent bias, but mass cuts are threatening decades of upward mobility.
When Francine Verdine took a job as a clerk at the Internal Revenue Service in Houston in 1983, it was supposed to be a stopgap until something better came along. She didn’t expect that 42 years later, she would look back on it as the start of a rewarding career that provided growth in various management positions, upward mobility and the opportunity to build a comfortable life for her family.
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“I enjoyed my career,” said Verdine, who retired in 2019. “I had no idea when I started that I could make the money I did by the time I left. It’s sad that many others’ opportunity to have a similar career could be over.”
For decades, the federal government provided both reliable jobs and guardrails to offset systemic racial bias in hiring and promotions, offering an alternative for Black workers who might be overlooked or ignored in the private sector. They played a crucial role in helping Black workers like Verdine join the middle class and thrive. But vast cuts by the Trump administration, led by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, are threatening to close down that once-dependable path to financial stability.
The government, which has about 3 million employees, is the largest employer in the country. At least 75,000 of them accepted buyout offers and thousands were fired in the last several weeks. Many of the workers fired were either newer hires or told they were let go for subpar performance.
“The federal workforce was a means to help build Black middle class. It hired Black Americans at a higher rate than private employers,” said Sheria Smith, president of the American Federation of Government Employees Local 252, which represents the Education Department employees.
As a part of his efforts, President Trump is angling to shut down the Department of Education, a move that will have dramatic repercussions around the country. Nearly 30% of Education employees are Black according to a 2024 report by the department.
Smith said 74 workers at the department had been let go so far, 60 of whom are Black.
At the Department of Health and Human Services, where more than 1,300 new hires were reportedly laid off, 20% of the staff was Black. And at the Department of Veterans Affairs, which recently lost 1,000 employees, 24% are Black.
For the last several decades, federal jobs helped Black workers find stable work with guardrails to prevent bias, but mass cuts are threatening decades of upward mobility.
When Francine Verdine took a job as a clerk at the Internal Revenue Service in Houston in 1983, it was supposed to be a stopgap until something better came along. She didn’t expect that 42 years later, she would look back on it as the start of a rewarding career that provided growth in various management positions, upward mobility and the opportunity to build a comfortable life for her family.
Subscribe to read this story ad-free
Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.
arrow
“I enjoyed my career,” said Verdine, who retired in 2019. “I had no idea when I started that I could make the money I did by the time I left. It’s sad that many others’ opportunity to have a similar career could be over.”
For decades, the federal government provided both reliable jobs and guardrails to offset systemic racial bias in hiring and promotions, offering an alternative for Black workers who might be overlooked or ignored in the private sector. They played a crucial role in helping Black workers like Verdine join the middle class and thrive. But vast cuts by the Trump administration, led by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, are threatening to close down that once-dependable path to financial stability.
The government, which has about 3 million employees, is the largest employer in the country. At least 75,000 of them accepted buyout offers and thousands were fired in the last several weeks. Many of the workers fired were either newer hires or told they were let go for subpar performance.
“The federal workforce was a means to help build Black middle class. It hired Black Americans at a higher rate than private employers,” said Sheria Smith, president of the American Federation of Government Employees Local 252, which represents the Education Department employees.
As a part of his efforts, President Trump is angling to shut down the Department of Education, a move that will have dramatic repercussions around the country. Nearly 30% of Education employees are Black according to a 2024 report by the department.
Smith said 74 workers at the department had been let go so far, 60 of whom are Black.
At the Department of Health and Human Services, where more than 1,300 new hires were reportedly laid off, 20% of the staff was Black. And at the Department of Veterans Affairs, which recently lost 1,000 employees, 24% are Black.
Jokes aside that was a really shitty thing to do.
I don’t know if you follow Christopher Ketcham Rhiannon. He is one of my favorite environmental journalists, just as Yasha Levine is my other favorite journalist.
My entire internet feed is an increasingly possibly at least subtly vandalized social experiment. I wonder what gets across.
The one plus is that the net is not entirely ruined for communication whether it is repellant ai refusing to stfu, once humans can guage humans adequately from fairly little info.
Trump broke my human guaging abilities. He is too extreme to induce much but hopelessness until now when there is no way Trumpism will survive but who or what else is collateral damage remains to be seen. So tired of being that. Mitt Romney was detestable. Trump lies so outside anything sane..It is a futile attempt but no one told the Idiocracy that there are greater fears humans have than of looking ridiculous, such as what happens if you make someone truly scary look ridiculous.
I think the danger is past in my network. But unpleasant still.
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