Juneteenth is a time to reflect on the unfinished work of economic justice—and the ways current policies risk deepening racial and wealth divides.

As Juneteenth approaches, we are called to remember not just the day when the last enslaved Black Americans learned of their freedom, but the ongoing struggle for true justice and equality in this country. Juneteenth is a celebration of emancipation, yet it is also a reminder of the delays, setbacks and broken promises that have characterized the Black experience in America. In this context, Donald Trump’s economic and immigration policies—packaged as efforts to “Make America Great Again”—take on a more troubling meaning. They are not just policy proposals; they are part of a deliberate strategy to reinforce racial divides, undermining the very ideals that Juneteenth represents.

The story of Juneteenth is one of delayed justice. Even after the Emancipation Proclamation, freedom was not immediate or universal.

Today, that legacy persists in policies that continue to deny Black and brown families access to the full rights and opportunities they deserve. The GOP’s recent proposals—such as the $1,000 “MAGA” Accounts included in the new budget bill recently passed in the House and the $1,000 “self-deportation” payments trotted out recently reveals a strategic effort to reinforce racial inequity.

These policies, when considered alongside the radical blueprint of Project 2025, are not just about economics—they are about safeguarding a shrinking white, conservative voting base by making it harder for Black, brown and immigrant families to thrive or even remain in the country.

Juneteenth is a celebration of emancipation, yet it is also a reminder of the delays, setbacks and broken promises that have characterized the Black experience in America.

Just look at who is being incentivized, and with how much. 

“Trump” Accounts (renamed from MAGA Accounts) would give every baby born with a Social Security number an initial $1,000 and then families could put up to $5,000 in that account per year, pre-tax until they are 31. That is quite literally the definition of wealth begetting wealth, which will primarily be access to white families who aren’t facing the pressures of the racial income and wealth gaps. Additionally, the administration is trying to diminish Black and brown people’s access as SCOTUS is about to issue a decision on limiting birthright citizenship, aka people with a SSN.

The Trump Accounts will actually make the wealth gap worse, as economist Darrick Hamilton points out. Low-income families who can’t afford to put in additional funds will end up with around $2,500, while wealthy (primarily white) families with far more resources who can maximize their contributions will end up with around $150,000. That takes the Black/white wealth disparity from its already shameful rate of six times more to an obscene 60 times. 

South Africa’s ‘Refugees’

On the other hand, the $1,000 “self-deportation” incentive is explicitly aimed at poor immigrants, and the vast majority of the undocumented population are people of color. This policy does not address the root causes of migration or offer a humane solution; it simply pays people to leave, reinforcing a message that the United States is only for those who fit a narrow, white, middle-class mold.

Trump’s move to expedite the resettlement of white South Africans as refugees further exposes the racial priorities underpinning his broader immigration and family policies. While the administration has effectively shut down refugee admissions for almost all other groups—i.e., those with more melanin, including Congolese families, Rohingya fleeing genocide and Afghans escaping Taliban rule—it has carved out a special, fast-tracked pathway for Afrikaners, a white minority in South Africa, claiming they face government-sponsored race-based discrimination. Unsurprisingly, the South African government disagrees with this plan and denies Trump’s claims any of the so-called white “refugees” are suffering from mistreatment.

[The ‘self deportation’ incentive] does not address the root causes of migration or offer a humane solution; it simply pays people to leave, reinforcing a message that the United States is only for those who fit a narrow, white, middle-class mold.

The administration not only welcomed these refugees with a public ceremony at Dulles Airport but is also diverting emergency federal funds, typically reserved for the most vulnerable refugees, to provide housing, household goods, and direct support for these new arrivals. This stark contrast-banning most refugees of color while rolling out the red carpet for white South Africans demonstrates the administration’s intent to reshape the nation’s demographic future in line with their Make America White Again agenda. It is a calculated effort to expand white supremacy while further marginalizing Black, brown and immigrant communities, reinforcing the racial hierarchy that Trump’s economic and social policies have consistently favored.

Project 2025

None of this should come as a surprise for anyone paying attention to Trump and who he has surrounded himself with. Project 2025, the policy roadmap developed by The Heritage Foundation and embraced by Trump’s allies, lays out a plan to consolidate executive power and dismantle civil rights protections, education equity and social safety nets.

While it does not directly name Black or brown communities as targets, as the Thurgood Marshall Institute astutely lays out, Project 2025 “operates to attack and undermine Black communities’ political power, civil rights protections, and economic and educational opportunities.”

In the first 100 days of his current term, Trump has already made good on many of the noxious ideas put forth in the conservative playbook like gutting the Department of Education, attacking the social safety set and coming after programs, research and arts that advance equity. And he still has more than 1,000 days left. The cumulative effect of dismantling of decades of work to make this country more fair and accessible will be the suppression of the political and economic power of people of color, ensuring the continued dominance of a white voting bloc most receptive to Trump’s racist platform.

Racialized Family Policy

Nowhere is the racialized nature of family policy more evident than in California. The financial barriers to raising children are staggering for Black and brown families, according to Maven Collaborative’s “Living on the Brink: The True Cost of Being Californian” report.

For example, the percentage of childless Black households who are living paycheck to paycheck is nearly the same as white households with three children. Our research shows that a single parent with one pre-school aged child would need to make nearly $11,000 a month to pay for their basic needs in San Francisco. Childcare expenses alone are over $2,500 for one month. Moreover, as shown in our report, of the top five jobs that Black and Latinx women hold in California, not a single one pays them enough to make ends meet if they have just one child in San Francisco. For white women, three of the top five jobs pay them enough. 

The Trump approach of piecemeal cash bonuses and punitive deportation payments ignores the fundamental needs of working families. The U.S. is long overdue for major public investment in what have historically been dismissed as “women’s issues”: universal childcare, paid family leave and robust child tax credits. The National Welfare Rights Organization has long demanded that care work, disproportionately performed by Black and brown women, be valued and supported. Yet, this refusal to do so is not an issue relegated to conservatives—even the Biden administration’s Build Back Better plan passed only the infrastructure portion, leaving out the care package that would have made a real difference for women and children.

With inflation eroding paychecks faster and the federal hourly minimum wage of $7.25 officially a “poverty wage,” millions of working Americans—regardless of race—are struggling to make ends meet. Yet Trump’s policies, and the broader Project 2025 agenda, would make it even harder for low-income families to access the support they need, deepening racial and economic inequality.

To truly support American families and fulfill the promise of Juneteenth’s liberation for Black Americans in particular, we need comprehensive, universal policies that address the real costs and barriers to raising children—especially for those who have been systematically excluded. That means rejecting racially-coded gimmicks and instead pursuing major public investment in policies that value and support care work, historically done by Black and brown women; universal, accessible benefits not tied to marriage, work status or tax filings; and a living minimum wage and robust social safety net. 

Only by rejecting piecemeal, dog whistle plans disguised as economic policy and investing in all working people can we build a future where every family has the freedom to thrive—regardless of race, income or immigration status. That’s the real way to make America better for everyone.