Black Workers Had Long History With Fed Jobs Before Shutdown
“The shutdown that ended Friday left an especially painful toll for African-Americans who make up nearly 20 percent of the federal workforce and historically have been on the low end of the government pay scale. The federal government played an important role in the building of the black middle class in the United States, giving African-Americans job opportunities that weren’t always available in the private sector. It started during World War II and the post-war years when the need for manpower was great as large numbers of whites were in military-related or war-production jobs.”