By Stacy M. Brown

NNPA Newswire Sr Natl Correspondent

As if Black America and other minorities needed a reminder that the United States is under a dictatorship, the country is barreling toward one of the darkest periods in its 248-year history.

President Donald Trump fired two of the three Democratic commissioners of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), a move that civil rights advocates warn is aimed at dismantling workplace protections for racial minorities, women, and LGBTQ+ individuals. The Associated Press reported that Trump dismissed Charlotte Burrows and Jocelyn Samuels late Monday night, an unprecedented action that strips the bipartisan agency of its independence.

The firings, which occurred before the expiration of their five-year terms, leave the agency with just one Democratic commissioner, Kalpana Kotagal, and one Republican commissioner, Andrea Lucas, whom Trump recently appointed as acting chair. Trump now has the power to fill three vacancies, effectively reshaping the EEOC into a weapon against diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. Another Republican commissioner, Keith Sonderling, resigned after Trump appointed him Deputy Secretary of Labor.

Burrows and Samuels both indicated they would challenge their removal, calling it a brazen violation of the EEOC’s independent mandate. “This undermines the efforts of this agency to protect employees from discrimination, support employers’ compliance efforts, and expand public awareness and understanding of federal employment laws,” Burrows said in a statement.

The EEOC, created by the 1964 Civil Rights Act, investigates workplace discrimination claims and imposes penalties on employers who violate anti-discrimination laws. It also issues critical guidelines on workplace protections, ensuring that companies comply with laws preventing discrimination based on race, gender, disability, and other protected characteristics.

Trump’s latest move appears designed to position the EEOC to target employers with DEI policies, aligning with his administration’s broader attack on civil rights protections. Lucas, the new acting chair, signaled this shift last week, vowing to prioritize “rooting out unlawful DEI-motivated race and sex discrimination,” while also advancing anti-transgender policies.

Burrows and Samuels had previously condemned Trump’s executive orders targeting DEI programs and protections for transgender workers, stating that anti-discrimination laws remain intact despite the administration’s aggressive rollback of protections. Samuels, who was appointed by Trump in 2020, called her removal illegal. “This represents a fundamental misunderstanding of the EEOC as an independent agency—not controlled by a single Cabinet secretary but designed as a multi-member body,” she said.

In a similarly alarming move, Trump also fired National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) member Gwynne A. Wilcox, the first Black woman to serve on the board since its founding in 1935, along with NLRB General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo.

Civil rights organizations and labor advocates condemned the firings as a direct attack on workers’ rights. “Today’s outrageous firings send a cruel message that not all workers can count on the EEOC,” said Gaylynn Burroughs, vice president for education and workplace justice at the National Women’s Law Center. “Under the EEOC envisioned by Trump, the government will no longer have your back if you are a transgender or gay worker seeking fair treatment. And if you are a person of color or a woman, your success at work is evidence of ‘illegal DEI.’”

Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) called Trump’s decision another sign of his disregard for the law. “These are yet more lawless actions by a president who thinks he is above the law and clearly could not care less about the rights of workers,” she said.

Rep. Bobby Scott (D-Va.), ranking member of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, warned that the firings severely undermine the agency’s mission. “Ensuring that the EEOC can carry out its vital work should not be a partisan issue. In the end, President Trump’s actions fundamentally hurt workers and undermine the civil rights laws of this nation,” Scott said.