The first weeks of President Trump's enthusiastic second term are largely in February, recognizing and celebrating black history, including sweeping actions to end federal diversity, equity and inclusion programs. It's spreading.
For Black Americans across the country, the new administration's actions to cancel the diversity program felt prompt, if not completely unexpected, while vowing to celebrate black history.
Some black voters interviewed Thursday said they expected Trump's actions to be unstable. Those who supported him embraced his rapid change. Those who voted against him, and those who were at home last November, were in awe. Most were meticulous, but some felt the need to look away.
Veronica McCloud, 63
Retired English Teacher in Charleston, South Carolina
“As someone born at the heart of the civil rights movement in the 1960s, what we see feels like an attempt to go back to another era,” McCloud said. “I'm talking about a time when Black Americans had no civil rights in their own country and women had to ask their husbands for permission to join the workforce.”
She was surprised by the speed at which Trump signed the Cleaning Bureau, which will defeat diversity, equity and inclusion programs across the federal government.
“There are so many things in our country that require government attention, such as creating fair tax systems and access to healthcare,” she said. “So we have to wonder why this administration is troubled by Day.”
Javon Evans, 23
Houston's artificial intelligence emerging workers
“I think the first month was great,” Evans said. , and especially just after the inauguration, that should be the norm. ”
Evans, the communications director for the Houston Young Republican, said he voted for Trump and supported the president's rewind to the federal diversity initiative.
“I believe in a society based on merit,” he said. “I don't want to know that I'm a checkbox. I didn't have enough black people, so it's just the title of the computer on the HR system.”
Rev. Vincent Parker, 65
Chief Pastor of Golden Gate Missionary Baptist Church in Dallas
“To be honest, I haven't seen much news since the election,” Pastor Parker said. Many of his congregations said they “lick the wounds and think about how they will react.”
He said one of Trump's moves was the president's crackdown on diversity, equity and inclusive efforts across the federal government. He felt it was similar to the early period of backlash against the advances in civil rights by Black Americans, he said, like the end of slavery, the civil rights movement, and the election of President Barack Obama.
“The progress we made is seen as something that we take away from people who actually have power,” Pastor Parker said. “There is always a sense that our progress is a hindrance to others' progress.”
YESENIA MUHAMMAD, 53
Small Business Owners in Atlanta
Muhammad said he voted for Trump. Because he has pledged to nominate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to run the Department of Health and Human Services.
“I wanted him to deal with the health of this country,” she said of Kennedy. “It was a victory.”
And she's seen a lot in Trump's first inauguration month. She supports his executive order on illegal immigration, which she sees as an economic outflow, and bans trans women from women's sports.
“I think the government is there to help you when you need it, not to solve every problem for us,” she said.
Joseph James, 34
Philadelphia Financial Auditor
“They're just going through it by a kind of accident and you really don't know what they're doing,” James said, stopping government payments and adding diversity-related programs. He spoke about the Trump administration's efforts to cut back.
“Racism is definitely playing around with,” he said, but he also believed that the administration was rolling out it as a way to dismantle the government in general. “But sometimes multiple things happen at once.”
James, who voted for Green Party candidate Jill Stein, said he did not regret choosing a third-party candidate. Democrats did not win the vote, he said, especially when it came to their support for Israeli war in Gaza. “I'll vote for the Green Party 1,000 times,” he said.
Rev. Cynthia Hale, 72
Pastor Ray of Hope Christian Church in Decatur, Georgia.
“People feel that we are personally attacked by our US president,” said Pastor Hale, who plans to take part in a nationwide “economic boycott” later this month.
Pastor Hale also pays attention to the efforts of another Atlanta area pastor, Pastor Jamal Bryant. programming.
She compared the efforts to the Montgomery, Alabama bus boycott in the 1950s, and came up with the concept that sometimes changes require sacrifices. “It's going to be uncomfortable,” Pastor Hale said, “But we have to insist.”
Kesha Wilder, 39
Classroom assistant at Milwaukee Public Schools
Wilder, a Democrat, said he didn't vote because he believed Trump would win. Now she is among the other programs he believes he is in office: for the poor.
“I already know that everything is over, so I'm just trying to gather myself and find a better paying job,” Wilder said.
“Racism was here before I was born,” she said. “The battle I chose is employment. Can I get more wages? I work in public schools and earn $17 per hour. That's not enough.”
Daniel Green, 40
Houston Community Organizer
Greene said he was angry at the massive cuts made by Trump and was particularly plagued by the central role of Elon Musk, who runs the so-called government efficiency.
“It's crazy to have someone we didn't vote for,” she said.
“We've seen the White House take over,” said Green, who voted for Kamala Harris.
She added that the power given to Musk has hit her as an anti-democracy. “Is he co-chairman? Is he my president's boss?” she wondered. “They are excluded from us, the 'our people' part. ”
Kevin Williams, 47
Detroit Arborists
“We're pretty much expecting what Donald Trump is doing,” said Williams, who didn't vote in the 2024 election.
“It seems he has a second chance to do his thing,” he said. “I hope everything he does is okay. No one wants to live in poverty. No one wants to live in bad circumstances.”
But Williams said he was worried that Trump and his administration might be moving too quickly. “We agree that we are offensive, but that's speed,” he said. “Take your time and do some research first.”
Paul James Jr., 36
San Antonio oil and gas company engineers
“I can't say that President Trump isn't working very hard,” James said. “We have not seen this level of effectiveness before.”
James voted for Bernie Sanders in 2016, but he won during Trump's first term with his support for tax cuts and deregulation. He is most excited that Trump will use tariffs to promote more favorable terms of trade with foreign partners. He hopes Americans will benefit from renegotiating trade contracts that appear to have undermined the working class.
James also hopes the Trump administration will defend nuclear families.
“I brought a strong work ethic from a very strong family,” he said. “The new frontier for us is no longer race and gender discrimination. It has something to do with the family and the better outcomes that people with strong families have.”
Evan Trailer, 30
Rabbinical Intern at the Beth Elohim Congregation in Brooklyn
Trailer said the Trump administration's deportation plan and its executive order have only two people causing great pain in his multicultural community. And then there was “Elon Musk and his Nazi salute,” he said. He mentioned the conflicted hand gestures Musk made at a rally of supporters after Trump took office.
“I'm in a place where a lot of people are wobbling in despair and I really feel the weight of this moment,” Trailer said.
He recently met with fellow black Jews and Jews of color and spoke about how to rely on the eternal truth of their faith in this moment.
“It can always be a guide for us, even among these complex policies coming out of the White House,” he said.
