Even before entering the White House, President Joe Biden presented himself as an advocate for the black community. During his campaign, the President was sure to discuss the hardships the black community has had to overcome over the decades and mention how he supposedly fought right alongside them. While some of those facts have been debunked, it seems his reputation with his black staffers isn’t so great as many of them decided to leave the White House, citing not enough promotional opportunities. 

Coining the exit “Blaxit”, numerous former staffers have come forward, expressing what it was like to work within the Biden administration and how some felt more as political pawns. “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. There is no real feedback and there’s no clear path to any kind of promotions.”

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Another former staffer added, “They brought in a ton of Black people generally to start without ever establishing an infrastructure to retain them or help them be successful. 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.”

One official, who is currently still at the White House, told Politico the Biden administration was failing on its promise, “They gave us a mandate to execute on all the things that we promised and not only are we not delivering on that front, but then we’re not also delivering to the staff that came in on the basis of that promise. People go home to their families or their communities, and what can they point to specifically? They can’t even point to their own experiences as positive.”

While the surge in turnovers might be a sign as the 2022 midterm elections approach, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre defended the President, stating he was “incredibly proud to have built what continues to be the most diverse White House staff in history, and he is committed to continuing historic representation for Black staff and all communities. This is a normal time for turnover across the board in any administration and Black staff have been promoted at a higher rate than staff who are not diverse.”

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