Biden 'Blaxit': Dissatisfied Black White House staffers leaving in droves

Over 20 Black staffers have left the Biden administration since last year or plan to leave soon, a phenomenon some of them refer to as the “Blaxit.”

The first significant Black White House exit was Symone Sanders, Vice President Kamala Harris’ senior advisor and chief spokesperson, in December, who would be followed by four other Black aides in her retinue.

While many have publicly stated they were leaving on good terms and for other opportunities, like Sanders for MSNBC, others attribute it to a work environment with little support from superiors and few chances for promotion, Politico reported on Tuesday, citing nine disaffected Black staffers.

“We’re here and we’re doing a lot of work but we’re not decision-makers and there’s no real path towards becoming decision-makers,” said one who is currently still at the White House.

“There is no real feedback and there’s no clear path to any kind of promotions.”

“They brought in a ton of black people generally to start without ever establishing an infrastructure to retain them or help them be successful,” said another current official.

“If there is no clear infrastructure of how to be successful, you become just as invisible in this space than you would be if you were not in it.”

Politico noted that although several important White House leaders has first-in-history Black leaders, none of them have Black deputies except for Deputy White House counsel Danielle Conley, who is leaving.

Other concerns that came up in discussion was the poor starting salary for low-level staffers and the pandemic, which hurt morale and cohesion by forcing meetings onto Zoom and limited staff social events.

A White House spokesperson told Politico that about 14% of current White House staffers “identify as Black,” which is in line with national proportions.

This number is no consolations to diversity advocates like Spencer Overton, president of the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies.

“Black voters accounted for 22 percent of President Biden’s voters in November 2020. It is essential that Black staffers are not only recruited to serve in senior, mid-level and junior White House positions, but are also included in major policy and personnel decisions and have opportunities for advancement,” Overton said.

Some Black staffers worried the Blaxit would worsen representation in the White House but said they would have trouble finding positive experiences to share with “their families or their communities.”