Malcolm Oliver

While I’d like to feign surprise that so many Black men — particularly those who present as masculine, heteronormative, the kind of brothers who might wear Timbs to the interview but walk with the same competence as the white man in his On running shoes — end up concentrated in certain jobs, I can’t. The economy has long been ruthless to us, and perhaps we are a little disillusioned about just how bad it really is for Black men.

Conflicts of Interest The authors declare no conflicts of interest. References , and . 2024. Map: See Which States Have Introduced or Passed Anti-DEI Bills. NBC News, March 2, Accessed August 22, 2024. https://www.nbcnews.com/data-graphics/anti-dei-bills-states-republican-lawmakers-map-rcna140756. , , and . 2023. “Greater Wealth, Greater Uncertainty: Changes in Racial Inequality in the Survey of Consumer Finances.” FEDS Notes. Federal Reserve Board, October 18. 2017.

Say what you will about Donald Trump, but he understands symbolism — and more dangerously, he understands how policy becomes prophecy. Beneath the chaos of his rants and the calculated cruelty of his immigration policy lies something far older, far more insidious: the strategic erasure of nonwhite allegiance to this nation. At first glance, the mass deportations, travel bans on African nations, and chokeholds on asylum might look like textbook nativism — racist, yes, but ultimately reactionary.