Ruminations of a Reflective Mind: Michael Smith's Blog on Life and Society

The Lasting Impact on Black Workers Today

After this long journey through history, we arrive at the present, where the cumulative effects of these labor systems and policies manifest in the lives of Black Americans every day. The legacy of racialized labor has not disappeared – it has simply shape-shifted. Black workers today face a labor market still stratified by race, with persistent gaps in employment, pay, and wealth that trace directly back to the exploitative structures we’ve discussed. Understanding this is crucial: disparities aren’t due to Black workers’ choices or abilities, but largely to the system built over generations.

One glaring indicator is the Black–white wage gap. As of the mid-2020s, the median household income for Black families is roughly $41,000, compared to about $70,000 for white families. That means Black households earn barely 59 cents for every dollar white households earn – a ratio that has improved distressingly little since the 1960s civil rights era. For individual workers, the gaps persist at all education levels. A Black college graduate typically earns significantly less than a white college graduate; even a Black worker with an advanced degree often earns only what a white worker with a bachelor’s degree does. This reflects both continued discrimination and occupational segregation – Black workers are more likely to be funneled into lower-paying industries and less likely to ascend to high-paying roles or leadership positions. Hiring discrimination remains widespread: studies (using “blind” resumes and other methods) consistently find that resumes with traditionally Black-sounding names get fewer callbacks than identical resumes with white-sounding names.

Then there’s unemployment and job stability. Black workers routinely suffer roughly double the unemployment rate of whites. In times of recession or economic shock, they are often the first fired and last rehired. We saw this in the Great Recession of 2008 and again during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020: Black unemployment spiked higher and recovered more slowly. Part of this is tied to education and location, but much is also due to last-hired-first-fired dynamics and racial bias. The overall precariousness of Black employment is connected to the historical lack of safety nets – with lower savings and wealth (the median Black household wealth is barely one-tenth that of whites), Black families have less cushion during layoffs, which can lead to compounding hardships like housing instability or debt.

Occupational segregation also continues. Black workers are overrepresented in low-wage service jobs (food service, retail, caregiving) and underrepresented in many high-paying fields (tech, finance, engineering). For example, Black women make up a disproportionate share of home health aides, a critical yet underpaid job. And Black men are often tracked into the most dangerous or physically grueling jobs on worksites (a throwback to “last hired, lowest paid” practices). This segregation is partly due to educational inequalities, but also network hiring and the enduring impact of past labor discrimination.

A particularly troubling contemporary trend is the rollback of labor protections at state levels, which has clear racial impacts. Recently, some states have even moved to weaken child labor laws or safety regulations, arguing labor shortages demand it. Who is likely to be exploited if 14-year-olds can suddenly work longer hours in hazardous jobs? It will likely be poor kids, often Black or Latino, whose families are struggling. It’s not far-fetched to compare this to the post-Reconstruction Black Codes or later schemes that exploited Black youth.

We must also consider the criminal justice-labor nexus in the present. Several states, through referendums, have removed the explicit 13th Amendment-like exception from their state constitutions, aiming to ban forced prison labor. Advocacy groups point out that disproportionately Black prisoners are coerced to work – a glaring example of slavery’s legacy. Black Americans are about 13% of the U.S. population but nearly 40% of the incarcerated population; thus, when prison labor is abused, it is a racialized abuse.

Today’s Black workers also bear the brunt of new forms of contingent and insecure work. The gig economy, temp agencies, part-time work – these have all grown, and Black workers are often overrepresented in these less secure jobs. A report noted that Black gig workers often earn less due to factors like customer discrimination. Meanwhile, highly paid professions remain largely white; pipelines that lead to them still favor those historically privileged.

The COVID-19 pandemic in 2020–2021 laid bare many of these inequalities. Black workers were more likely to be deemed “essential” – working in hospitals, public transit, grocery stores – and thus more exposed to the virus. They also faced greater job loss in sectors like hospitality. Many studies found that Black and Hispanic workers suffered disproportionate economic and health harm during the pandemic.

Yet, there are rays of hope and resistance. The Fight for $15 had significant leadership from Black workers, especially Black women in fast food. The “Black Lives Matter” movement has drawn attention to the value of Black lives in all spheres, including the economy. Some unions and workplaces engaged in solidarity actions, tying racial justice to labor activism.

The Biden administration’s policies, in contrast to Trump’s, have tried to address some inequities – a proposal to raise the federal minimum wage, more aggressive OSHA enforcement, and efforts to protect gig workers. Biden also appointed the most diverse leadership in DOL’s history, aiming to make racial equity a consideration in labor policy. Time will tell how far these efforts go; structural change is slow.

In any case, the struggle that began on the first slave ship continues in the warehouses, kitchens, fields, and gig economy of today. Black workers have moved from being property to being sharecroppers, to factory hands, to service and gig workers – yet through it all, they have demonstrated resilience, solidarity, and a relentless push for dignity.

Final Reflection: The legacy of racialized labor systems in the U.S. is not a bygone chapter – it is a living history that informs our present and future. The Casual Killing Act of 1669 and the slave codes set in motion an ideology of Black labor being disposable and white profit being paramount. Though laws have changed, that ideology has mutated but not fully disappeared. Recognizing this continuity is not meant to induce despair, but to clarify the task ahead: to realign our labor system with justice and equality. History teaches us that what was put in place by human hands can be undone by human hands. The legacy of exploitation can be overcome by a legacy of resistance – a legacy Black workers and communities have richly given this nation.

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