Black staffers flocking out of White House under Biden
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The Biden administration is seeing a massive exodus of Black staffers from the White House for various reasons, most of which are bureaucratic.
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Black staffers from across the White House posing with Vice President Kamala Harris in celebration of Black History Month on February 4, 2022
At least 21 Black White House employees have quit their position - or are planning to leave soon - mainly due to the lack of support from superiors in the work environment and the minimal chances of earning a promotion, according to remaining staffers.
Though some staffers have left their White House jobs on good terms with the Biden administration and in pursuit of better opportunities or further educational opportunities, many others have left with a lack of opportunities and mentorship in mind, Politico reported on Tuesday citing nine former and current White House officials.
"We're here and we’re doing a lot of work but we’re not decision-makers and there’s no real path towards becoming decision-makers," one staffer who is still in the White House told the US newspaper, noting that there was no feedback nor a clear path toward promotions.
The resignations are so prominent that there has been a term coined specifically for them: Blaxit.
The reasons vary, and they include low pay, which leads various minority staffers to drop their posts, especially as they live in one of the most expensive cities in the United States. "The pay in the White House is not traditionally very good, and a lot of Black folks in these roles do not come from wealthy families," the employee added.
The White House has an entry-level salary that starts at $48,000, while 74 staff members made $150,000 or more in 2021, and 41 staffers made no money whatsoever. The average salary for paid White House staff members was around $95,000.
The first Blaxit movement exit took place in December 2021 at the initiative of Vice President Kamala Harris chief spokesperson Symone Sanders announced that she was resigning from her post.
Those who have already left the White House over the past five months - since the start of Blaxit - include public engagement aide Carissa Smith, gender policy aide Kalisha Dessources Figures, National Security Council Senior Director Linda Etim, Digital Engagement Director Cameron Trimble, associate counsel Funmi Olorunnipa Badejo, Chief of Staff Ron Klain advisers Elizabeth Wilkins and Niyat Mulughetal, Press Assistant Natalie Austin, National Economic Council aides Joelle Gamble and Connor Maxwell, and presidential personnel aides Danielle Okai, Reggie Greer, and Rayshawn Dyson.
Harris senior aides Tina Flournoy, Ashley Etienne, Vincent Evans, and public engagement head Cedric Richmond have also left.
The coming few weeks will likely see Deputy White House counsel Danielle Conley and Council of Economic Advisers aide Saharra Griffin leaving the Biden administration, according to the Politico report.
"They brought in a ton of Black people generally to start without ever establishing an infrastructure to retain them or help them be successful," a black White House official said. "If there is no clear infrastructure of how to be successful, you become just as invisible in this space as you would be if you were not in it," they added, highlighting that the Biden administration could have only hired more Black staffers for additional votes for Democrats in the upcoming election, but it seems that this plan has backfired.
Richmond now serves as a senior adviser at the Democratic National Committee, and he told Politico that the White House gave young Black staffers a lot more responsibility than previous administrations, explaining that many departures were taking place for jobs that higher compensation, i.e., better pay or better chances for promotions.
The Democratic party has long been an avid advocate of Black rights, but it seems as if their bids to grant said people their rights have fallen flat due to disorganized planning and a lack of a proper infrastructure that would sustainably uphold the influx of workers brought into the Biden administration.
"A lot of people have been at this grind [for a while] and it's a hard grind [so] a slowing down of the work pace and a better salary becomes more attractive," Richmond added. "For young African American staffers who can make these types of salaries, it doesn't just change their plight but their family's plight."
The effort to diversify government offices and federal employees has taken a hit by the Blaxit movement, raising concerns from those pushing for the cause, including the president of the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, Spencer Overton. "I have heard about an exodus of Black staffers from the White House - 'Blaxit' - and I am concerned."
The plight of the exodus could take a toll on the polls of the Democratic party in the United States and lead to a decrease in the party's popularity due to the poor opportunities they are offering Black people.
"It is essential that Black staffers are not only recruited to serve in senior, mid-level and junior White House positions but are also included in major policy and personnel decisions and have opportunities for advancement," Overton stressed.
The White House obviously rebutted criticism via one official who explained that 14% of the Biden-Harris staffers were Black, which is in line with the 13.4% of the Black US population, but critics have responded by underlining that giving a job to Black people does not mean that it is a good job.
