United States Federal Reserve Bank Governor Lisa Cook won a Federal Court ruling on September 9, allowing her to remain in her job while fighting President Donald Trump’s bid to sack her.
For some time, Trump has been railing against and threatening to sack Jerome Powell, chair of the “Fed’s” Board of Governors.
Trump disagrees with the Board’s decisions not to cut interest rates and wants to gain majority control of the central bank.
Why did Trump try to sack Cook in a late-night social media post, on August 25, citing unconfirmed allegations of mortgage fraud?
Cook is the only Black Governor and the first Black woman to serve on the Board. She is a former economics professor whose research focused on racial disparities, the history of financial institutions, crises in financial markets and innovation. She is serving a 14-year term on the Fed’s board.
The day after Trump dismissed Cook on social media, the White House released a photo of Trump, his cabinet and other officials, in the Oval Office, giving a “thumbs-up” to the move. According to the Guardian, “Of the 24 people in the Oval Office, only one was Black.”
Blacks react with anger
Many in the Black community responded angrily. They say Trump’s effort to oust Cook “fits a pattern of purging diverse non-white voices from the higher ranks of government leadership”, wrote the Guardian.
Race and class always intersect in the US, whether it’s where people can buy a home or what job opportunities are available.
Trump’s attempt to sack Cook comes as his administration has more broadly tried to dismantle diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts across the federal government.
Earlier this year, Trump fired Gwynne Wilcox, the first Black woman to serve on the National Labor Relations Board, and General Charles Brown Jnr, a Black man who was Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Trump has also pressured private-sector companies and institutions — often successfully — to end DEI programs.
Trump and other white nationalists are using slanders and misinformation to push back racial justice and undermine the long-term gains of African Americans.
Cook is a well-respected and qualified economist and scholar. She was confirmed to the Board of Governors in 2022 by the Senate in a party-line vote. Republicans argued that she was unqualified and found her research overly focused on race. Democrats brushed off such critiques but refused to call out the racism of the opposition, according to the Guardian.
The Fed was established in 1913, but only appointed Andrew Brimmer, a Black man, to its Board in 1966. The first woman to serve on the Board was Nancy Teeters, who was appointed in 1978.
Last in, first out
Yet, as is typical for Blacks in all jobs, Cook was the last hired and first fired.
She refused to resign and filed a lawsuit claiming that Trump has no power to remove her from office. Trump’s Justice Department has initiated a criminal investigation into Cook.
Activist LaTosha Brown told the Guardian: “He [Trump] knows that racism and sexism is an amazingly effective tool to cast doubt and that’s the pathway.”
On why Trump targeted Cook, Brown said: “He picked her because he is betting that, in an industry that is probably 90% or more white male, his odds of removing her are greater than the odds for removing others from the board. That in itself is rooted in history and how insidious racism is built into the fabric of how we see people of colour in this country.”
Trump also dismissed Carla Hayden, the first Black person to serve as librarian of Congress, after a reactionary advocacy organisation accused her of being a “radical”.
Trump says he acts on his instincts no matter the facts. He seeks a return to a time when only (white) European settlers were “real” Americans.
It is not enough to talk about the independence of the central bank. Racism must be a central part of the discussion. However, Democrats who oppose Trump don’t want to discuss this.
Why defend DEI?
Why many liberals and some on the left are quiet about DEI, it is crucial that DEI be defended against the right’s attacks.
Diversity is a way to say the country is not only white, and non-whites will soon be a majority. To say diversity should be reflected in society’s institutions is not complicated.
Equity is a call for fairness and equality — a demand that the Black-led civil rights movement advocated. It was first about ending legal segregation, but also affirmative action to close the gap between oppressed minorities and the majority white population.
Inclusion is simple: let Blacks and others finally be accepted for their skills, knowledge and abilities as equals — people like Cook.
Trump and his white nationalist base rejects DEI and threatens to criminalise those who support full equality.
In his second term, Trump picked only one Black person to serve in his cabinet: Scott Turner, the secretary of housing and urban development.
Joe Biden, by contrast, appointed the most diverse cabinet in history with more women and people of colour than at any time.
Rashad Robinson, a civil rights leader and former president of the group Color of Change, explained: “This is not simply that Donald Trump has put only one Black person in his cabinet. It’s that Donald Trump has gone out of his way to find some of the most unqualified and ill-equipped people to put in those jobs as a way to actually avoid having to put Black people in his cabinet.”
The exploitation of the working class and the oppression of Blacks and other people of colour are intertwined aspects of capitalist rule, in the US.
The fight against Trump must include fighting racism and sexism.
The outcome of Cook’s battle is important for the working class, Black community, labor movement and the socialist left. If Trump wins, it could lead to more setbacks for the unity of the working class and oppressed minorities.