Often the truth is uncomfortable and impolitic. Such is true when President Trump talked about “black jobs.” Of course, Donald Trump knows that Black Americans can and should have access to not only the mailroom, but also the C-suite. However, as Democrats continue to flood social media with memes of the President’s comments, the inconvenient truth is that jobs filled by illegal immigrants disproportionately impact Black and Brown Americans. These are often the same jobs that under-skilled Black workers rely on. When illegal immigration drives wages down, it further diminishes the earning potential for those who are already on the margins of the economy.
Alongside the “black jobs” memes, you should watch Black Americans in Chicago and Detroit speaking out at city council and school board meetings. They are outraged because jobs and services denied them are now being generously given to illegal immigrants. This is not about xenophobia. It's about economic reality.
Rather than complaining about President Trump’s blunt truth, we need to create a more prosperous reality where Black Americans are disproportionately represented in the upper echelons of the job market, not the lower. Only about eight percent of Fortune 500 board seats are held by Black Americans. A paltry one percent (yes, that's right, one percent) of Fortune 500 CEOs are Black. Blacks represent less than 10% of the top one percent of wealth holders.
We need a reality where Black Americans are signing the front of the check. By that I mean let’s look at policies that ensure that our economy is producing more black job creators. Another inconvenient truth is that President Trump’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, which featured Opportunity Zones and real relief for middle class families, is a better model for creating job creators than a policy focused on wealth redistribution, free services, and open borders.
No president in modern history slashed burdensome regulations more than President Trump. Unnecessary red tape stifles business. I have seen this first hand from my roles on the federal, state and local levels. Small businesses rarely have the expertise to navigate these regulations or the financial capacity to pay lawyers who do.
President Trump is a deal maker (I remember reading his 1987 book, The Art of the Deal, after I finished graduate school). He thinks like a businessman which is why his administration brought us policies that reduced regulatory barriers that stifle small businesses and increased access to capital. This empowered Black entrepreneurs to take risks and innovate without fear of financial ruin.
It is only by embracing free-market policies and encouraging investment in communities that have seen disinvestment that we will be able to have more Black Americans signing the front of the check and creating black, white, and brown jobs. The late Jack Kemp, who once served as US Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, once said that "in order to create more Black employees, we need to create more Black employers."
Trump’s rhetoric will always be a gut punch of reality where the inconvenient truth is crystal clear. We must stop working against our own self-interest and embrace policies and leaders who increase economic freedom over economic dependency.
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David J. Byrd served as the 18th National Director of the Minority Business Development Agency, located within the US Department of Commerce, from 2019-2021. Before that, he was the Deputy Asst. Secretary for Policy Development and Research at the US Department of Housing and Urban Development where he focused on Opportunity Zones.
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