The older that I get the more of a conspiracy theorist I think I am becoming. Whatever could I mean? I am beginning to believe that there is an active conspiracy to exclude Black women from any economic success that could be a part of the United States of America. Moreover, I think it stems from a hatred of Black women. “Misogynoir” (pronounced mi-soj-uhn-nwar) is a term coined by Moya Bailey that describes the anti-Black racist misogyny that Black women experience. Misogynoir articulates the uniquely co-constitutive racialized and sexist violence that befalls Black women as a result of their simultaneous and interlocking oppression at the intersection of racial and gender marginalization¹. And, certainly, economic exclusion is violence. When Black women, and the communities in which they reside, experience economic exclusion and poverty, multiple forms of violence ensue since poverty contributes to violence because of multiple physical and psychosocial stressors. 

Let me explain. While many new media outlets have touted the fact that Black women are the most educated sector in the United States, Black women’s jobless rate is increasing. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics April Jobs Reports shows that Black women lost 106,000 jobs in the month of April. Further, Black women were the highest rate of unemployment among all workers. The Report also shows that Black women’s jobless rate jumped to 6.1% from 5.1% while employment rates for White and Hispanic women remained unchanged at 3.3% and 4.6% respectively. The U.S. unemployment rate stayed the same at 4.2%. In the article cited, experts believe that the troubling spike may be linked to the rise of anti-diversity, anti-equity, and anti-inclusion policies within the current political climate. Moreover, the Trump administration’s federal job cuts were one way to relieve career governmental Black women of their duties in one swift motion.

Noting the current climate reminds me that conservative groups like Ed Blum’s American Alliance for Equal Rights gained success against Atlanta-based Fearless Fund in its discrimination lawsuit. In their lawsuit against, Blum’s group was able to force Fearless Fund to suspend the Strivers Grant Contest which provided $20,000 to businesses that were majority owned by Black women. The infuriating part about Blum’s lawsuit was that the Alliance used a Reconstruction-era law that was intended to protect formerly enslaved people from experiencing economic exclusion! The Alliance made it about other groups of people being excluded. It does not appear that the Alliance nor the Court systems actually take into account how the Black women owned business are only 3.6% of all women-owned business and still face a funding gap because women owned business receive less funding that male owned business. Black women are becoming economically excluded more and more each day. 

One of the questions that I ask myself is why does “White supremacist capitalist patriarchy” want to exclude Black women economically? The only conclusion that I can surmise stems from the mantra “Make America Great Again.” In the MAGA mindset, America was great when the only careers available to Black women were domestic careers. For example, prior to the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which began to undo the laws made in the Jim Crow era, Black Codes mandated that Black women had to work as domestics and child care givers in White households even if they had a husband who could support the family. Black women faced arrest if they did not work for a White household. As the Trump administration proceeds to dismantle many of the actions of President Lyndon B. Johnson such as the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Equal Pay Act of 1963, many women, not just Black women, will find themselves economically excluded from accessing the “American Dream.” How it is quickly becoming the American nightmare!

I started off by stating that I am quickly becoming a conspiracy theorist but I believe that my theories are actually correct. Feeling that I am correct is probably the most troubling aspect of this essay. The United States does have a hatred for successful Black women as we have seen in the 2024 Presidential Election. The arguments that both sides were the same is ridiculous. Kamala Harris would not have put forth Project 2025 as Trump has done. And that is just one example of their differences. Misogynoir kept Kamala Harris out of the White House. And, yes, even though I am still angry from the election because I feel the hatred as a Black woman, I know that resistance still has to occur. 

Resisting this conspiracy is going to take an “all hands-on deck” approach to turn the tide back from the onslaught of damage that the current administration is attempting. Further, if I had to give one piece of advice for resistance it would be this: keep calling out the lies! The current administration lies incessantly. Conservative groups like Blum’s Alliance lie in order to sway court systems. Call out the lie that Black women are only worthy as domestic labor. Call out the lie that Black women are only a diversity, equity, and inclusion hire in their position. 

There is a saying that when America gets a cold, Black people get pneumonia. Now, I think we need to recognize that when America gets a cold, Black people get pneumonia, but Black women are the ones most likely to die from that pneumonia! There has to be a way to stem the onslaught of economic exclusion that we are already seeing. My hope is that many will join in the fight!

¹ Bailey, Moya. Misogynoir Transformed: Black Women’s Digital Resistance. 1st ed. New York: New York University Press, 2021. P. 16.