logo
How AI, federal job cuts could impact Black workforce

How AI, federal job cuts could impact Black workforce

Yahoo27-02-2025

(NewsNation) — Martin Luther King Jr. addressed a crowded room of union workers back in 1961, warning the rise of automation would disproportionately impact African Americans in the auto industry.
'Automation cannot be permitted to become a blind monster which grinds out more cars and simultaneously snuffs out the hopes and lives of the people by whom the industry was built,' he said.
Nearly half a century later, as the Association for the Study of African American Life and History celebrates its 2025 Black History Month theme, 'African Americans and Labor,' artificial intelligence is stoking similar fears.
'I feel that kind of the next large struggle for, especially the Black labor force in the country, is in these ongoing discussions around artificial intelligence and how it'll impact the American workforce at large,' said Christian Collins, a policy analyst at The Center for Law and Social Policy.
He told NewsNation the tenets of King's speech ring true today, including that tech innovations like AI cut costs without 'concern for the humanity of the workers.'
'The indispensable nature of Black labor has always been requisite to the development and wealth of the United States, to the point that it is valued more than the lives of the Black people performing the work,' Collins wrote earlier this February.
Black-owned pie shop celebrates 40 years in business
In 2024, nearly 60% of U.S. companies implemented software, equipment or technology to automate tasks previously done by employees, a survey from Duke University and the Federal Reserve Banks of Atlanta and Richmond found.
Goldman Sachs estimates that 'roughly two-thirds of current jobs are exposed to some degree of AI automation.'
Collins and other experts worry that AI — and federal job cuts from the Trump administration — will impact the Black workforce disproportionately.
King's automation concerns were mainly targeted toward blue-collar workers, but the newest tech innovations are putting white-collar jobs at risk as well.
Tasks in office and administrative support roles — bookkeepers, customer service representatives, office clerks — are especially likely to be automated, a recent Brookings Institution report posited.
Other professions like insurance underwriters, tax preparers and legal secretaries also face high automation risk.
Fighting for the Right to Fight: The National WWII Museum's dedication to Black soldiers
Estimates from the McKinsey Global Institute point to the overrepresentation of African Americans in three categories — office support, food services and production work — all of which are likely to be first displaced.
The institute's calculations found that African Americans have one of the highest rates of potential job loss by 2030, with a 23.1% displacement rate.
'Even though AI is such a popular topic now and has been for quite some time, that's not really what's being discussed, either publicly in regards to AI or, honestly, even in some of the private policy decision rooms,' Collins said.
President Donald Trump and his tech billionaire ally Elon Musk, head of the Department of Government Efficiency, have targeted civil servants in an effort to slash federal workforce sizes.
DOGE launched an overhaul of government to save what he claims could be trillions of dollars. The Trump administration faces a myriad of legal challenges questioning the White House's unilateral ability to cut spending.
Dr. Danielle Phillips-Cunningham, an associate professor of labor studies and employment relations at Rutgers University, said the recent orders have 'significantly rolled back and threatened' what 'Black labor leaders fought for.'
'The targeting of federal workers is a targeting of Black people,' Phillips-Cunningham said. 'As we know, people from many different races are employed by the federal government, but the federal government is an area of employment where a lot of Black people work.'
Pew Research data shows that the federal workforce relatively mirrors the overall workforce makeup, though with two notable exceptions: A bigger share of federal workers are Black — 18.6% compared to 12.8% nationally, while a smaller share is Hispanic or Latino (10.5% vs. 19.5%).
Phillips-Cunningham said some of the president's orders violate the Civil Rights Act of 1964, specifically in regard to employment discrimination.
'This is why labor organizers and labor unions are at the forefront of lawsuits filed against the presidential administration,' she explained. 'Because a lot of what labor leaders have fought for are being threatened and dismantled as we speak.'
NewsNation's Michael Ramsey and Andrew Dorn contributed to this report.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

A YouTuber created a $75 grill scrubber to experience the challenges of making stuff in the US — and it sold out
A YouTuber created a $75 grill scrubber to experience the challenges of making stuff in the US — and it sold out

Business Insider

time20 minutes ago

  • Business Insider

A YouTuber created a $75 grill scrubber to experience the challenges of making stuff in the US — and it sold out

A really nice grill brush will cost you about $25 at your local big box store, but YouTuber Dustin Sandlin is betting he can get customers to shell out three times that amount for a Made-in-America version. Sandlin traces his passion for US manufacturing to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, when he was bothered by the lack of American-made essential goods. "Everybody wanted N95 masks and face shields, and they couldn't get it," he said in a recent YouTube video. "This revealed to me how anemic our manufacturing capacity in America has become, because I was waiting on some billionaire to come save us, and it didn't happen." So began a yearslong deep dive into the challenges of making products in the US, which Sandlin documented for his series on YouTube called "Smarter Every Day." After working with John Youngblood, the owner of a local specialty grill accessories company, Sandlin got excited about the idea of developing a better scrubber. Sandlin and Youngblood wanted to produce it in the US with as many domestically sourced components as possible, and sell it at a retail price. In a video that went live Sunday and has since amassed more than 2 million views, Sandlin shares why he decided to get serious about US manufacturing, explains how he navigated the design process, and makes a sales pitch for viewers to buy it for themselves. On Tuesday, Youngblood told Business Insider the $75 scrubber has sold through its initial production run of several thousand units within a day, and his company is now taking pre-orders. "We're going to have a backlog for a while," Youngblood said. Most grill brushes are meant to be thrown away. This one isn't. Many lower-cost grill brushes aren't typically designed to last more than a year of use — grill-maker Weber recommends changing them after each grilling season. Another problem is that the bristles have been known to come off and can end up in grilled food. Sandlin and Youngblood found that welded chain mail — like the material of a medieval knight's armor — was highly effective at cleaning grill grates without breaking. There was one problem: "We could only find it in China." After a few tries, the team managed to find a US supplier who could make about 2,000 units a month and a supplier in India to augment the rest. Attaching the chain mail to a handle proved to be another adventure. Sandlin said the average one-inch industrial bolt costs around 9 cents when imported, but that jumps to 38 cents for versions made in the US. "Most machine shops I talked to directly, they said, 'Yeah, we can't even get the material for the price of the finished bolts that you're getting from a foreign supplier,'" Sandlin said. Then there was the process of making injection-molded parts to provide support and flexibility, which required machining custom tools and dies (the metal forms that shape a material) for shops to use in production. "This is the moment where this whole experiment came into focus for me," Sandlin said. "I realized at that moment we're screwed." American manufacturing has exported the smart part of making stuff The reason for Sandlin's pessimism is that many of the shops he spoke with send tool and die design files to China to be made and imported for use in US production lines. "I don't want my intellectual property in China, I want to make it here," he said. "And they said, 'Good luck.'" The problem illuminated by this episode goes far beyond a seemingly simple grilling accessory. "We're screwed as a nation if we can't do the intelligent work of tool and die: making the tools that make the things," Sandlin said. "We have flipped it. We are now to the point where the smart stuff is done somewhere else." Sandlin and Youngblood eventually found US suppliers for all of their custom components. They're working to get every piece sourced here. The video shows two instances where Sandlin was surprised by the apparent country of origin being different from what he says he was led to believe: The first batch of knobs arrived in packaging stating they were made in Costa Rica rather than the US. Several boxes of chain mail (ostensibly from India) had markings that suggested they were instead from China. "I'm shocked," Sandlin said. "It's pretty weird to set out to try to make a thing completely in America and to find out towards the end of the process that you made something in China anyways." Sandlin says he's not interested in having America be the dominant world player — he wants more opportunities for people here to have good jobs that allow them to take care of their communities. "If you are ever, ever in a position to make a decision about where your thing is manufactured, take a second and consider making a little less profit, maybe in order to invest in your local community," he said.

Scoop: Gabbard tightens grip on intel assessments after Venezuela clash
Scoop: Gabbard tightens grip on intel assessments after Venezuela clash

Axios

time44 minutes ago

  • Axios

Scoop: Gabbard tightens grip on intel assessments after Venezuela clash

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard has imposed a more intensive review process for inter-agency reports, slowing their publication and deepening internal fears about political influence on intelligence, two U.S. officials tell Axios. The intrigue: The new layers of approval were introduced after Gabbard's acting chief of staff pushed for changes to a politically inconvenient report on Venezuela from experts across multiple intelligence agencies — an internal dispute that spilled into public view. Driving the news: That report from the National Intelligence Council (NIC) cast doubt on links the White House had drawn between the Tren de Aragua cartel and the Venezuelan government to justify deporting suspected gang members to El Salvador. Gabbard fired the acting heads of the NIC who approved that report last month. Her office said it was part of her efforts to "end the weaponization and politicization of the Intelligence Community." Veterans of U.S. intelligence warned the episode would send a "chill" through the community. "Nobody wants to give the boss what he or she needs to hear if the messenger is going to get shot," a former senior intel official told Axios. After the Venezuela controversy, Gabbard announced that she'd referred"deep-state criminals" to the Department of Justice over suspected leaks. Behind the scenes: She also quietly added a new layer of approval for NIC reports. An intelligence official said everything now needs sign-off from Deputy DNI for Mission Integration William Ruger or from Gabbard herself. An intelligence official told Axios the result was a slower flow of intelligence to policymakers. "The mere fact that they're going through all these steps has brought it to a trickle." "The process has definitely become more cumbersome," another U.S. official said, concurring that the NIC was publishing less in recent weeks than it had previously. In response to questions from Axios, an official from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) said it was normal for the DNI or Deputy DNI to review reports prior to publication. The official did confirm changes had been made. "Considering the heads of the NIC were terminated for their inability to remove political priorities from the workplace, there is an even more comprehensive review of the products coming out of the NIC to ensure the office is producing apolitical intelligence." "This is good for the trust of the American people in the intelligence community and for the safety and security of our nation," the official contended. The other side: A former member of the NIC, which is typically staffed by career intelligence officials on rotation from other agencies, told Axios he'd never heard of that level of intervention by DNI leadership into the publishing process. "The NIC is a production mill for the DNI, so to require everything to be going through Mission Integration, or wherever else, would have constipated the system," he said. Between the lines: The changes reflect the mutual distrust between the intelligence community and its new leadership. Intelligence officials worry Gabbard's team may shape intelligence to match their political preferences. But Gabbard's team claims "deep state" officials are shaping the intelligence to match their political preferences, hence the review process. How it works: The NIC is responsible for providing assessments that take in the views of all U.S. intelligence agencies, often in response to requests from the White House. Typically a relevant subject matter expert at CIA or another agency will draft a paper which is then circulated among the relevant analysts at a dozen or so additional agencies for their input. The final product is published by the NIC in a classified format, and provided to the relevant policymakers. These can range from a one-pager turned around quickly on a hot-button issue — some aspect of the war in Ukraine, for example — or a months-long deep dive into an adversary's nuclear capabilities or terror threats to the homeland. In the case of the Venezuela report, the assessment was that the Tren de Aragua cartel was not being controlled by the Venezuelan government — contradicting a claim President Trump made while invoking the Alien Enemies Act. Joe Kent, Gabbard's chief of staff, wrote intel officials in April that "some rewriting" and more analytic work was needed "so this document is not used against the DNI or POTUS," the New York Times reported. Intelligence community members Axios spoke to for this story raised concerns that after the Venezuela episode, analysts could start to self-censor or simply keep their heads down to avoid political backlash. What they're saying: "Ensuring only the most timely, apolitical, and accurate intelligence reaches the desks of our decision makers is DNI Gabbard's top priority," Gabbard's spokesperson Olivia Coleman told Axios.

U.S. races to break China's hold on rare earth magnets
U.S. races to break China's hold on rare earth magnets

Axios

time44 minutes ago

  • Axios

U.S. races to break China's hold on rare earth magnets

While U.S. trade negotiators work to ease an immediate shortage of rare earth magnets from China, the Trump administration is scrambling to line up viable alternatives that would reduce America's reliance on its chief economic rival. Why it matters: Small-but-powerful rare earth magnets are essential to high-tech products, from cars and robots to electronics and weapons. But China controls 90% of the world's supply of the critical components. The contentious trade relationship between the U.S. and China has amplified the economic and security risks of that reliance. Global automakers are "in full panic" that China's limits on rare earth exports will trigger supply chain shocks like the pandemic-related semiconductor shortages that occurred in 2021 and 2022. The big picture: It's not a new problem. U.S. officials have been talking about the need to mitigate American dependence on China for years. China also dominates processing of metals like lithium, cobalt, nickel and graphite used in batteries. The latest: U.S. and Chinese officials met Monday and Tuesday in London to try to iron out their trade issues, amid reports that China was willing to expedite export licenses for U.S. and European automakers if the U.S. loosened export controls on jet engine parts and software. Late Tuesday both sides said they'd reached a framework of a deal, pending approval from both countries' leaders, that would in theory resolve the most recent export issues. Yes, but: There's still an urgency to find alternative sources. President Trump in April called for an investigation into national security risks posed by U.S. reliance on imported processed critical minerals, including rare earth elements. He has also used a series of executive orders to try to bolster domestic supply chains, like fast-tracking environmental reviews for U.S. mining projects. In Congress, meanwhile, rare earth competition with China has galvanized both parties. A spate of bills would create a tax credit for production of high-performance rare earth magnets, use Defense Production Act authority to direct emergency funding, and establish an Energy Department program to finance minerals projects. Two Republicans and two Democrats are pressing legislation that allows the president to strike free trade agreements exclusively focused on critical minerals and rare earth elements. "There is fairly broad bipartisan support around becoming more resilient, especially in areas that invoke national security — and this is clearly one of them," Sen. Todd Young, an Indiana Republican leading that bill, told Axios last month. Zoom in: One deal that's getting a lot of attention is a potential partnership between California-based MP Materials and Saudi Arabia's flagship mining company, Maaden. The deal was inked in May on the sidelines of the U.S.-Saudi Investment Forum, coinciding with a broader agreement between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia to cooperate on energy and critical minerals. MP Materials operates California's Mountain Pass, the only rare-earths mine in the U.S., which produces 12% of the global supply. At maximum production, Mountain Pass could yield enough rare earths to supply more than 6 million electric vehicles, the company says. But the bottleneck is magnets, which MP Materials is just beginning to produce. Maaden, a fast-growing, government-controlled mining company, is developing mines for a variety of critical minerals, but doesn't produce rare earths today. What to watch: Together, the companies seek to jointly develop a vertically integrated rare earths supply chain in Saudi Arabia—mining, separation, refining and magnet production—for global consumption. Zoning and environmental regulations in the U.S. make it hard to open a rare earth mine, but Saudi Arabia moves more quickly and is anxious to wean its economy off of oil. Saudi expertise in petrochemical refining can be leveraged for minerals processing, while MP brings experience across the entire rare earths supply chain, including mining, refining and magnet production. Reality check: The preliminary deal is non-binding, so it could still fall apart.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store