What Does Trump’s Overturning of the 1965 Executive Order Mean? Is segregation back?

President Donald Trump has overturned a 1965 executive order signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson that required federal contractors (private businesses that receive taxpayer money) to follow rules against segregation in the workplace. This move directly conflicts with federal and state anti-discrimination laws, including the Civil Rights Act.

What does this mean in plain language? It means that companies doing business with the federal government no longer have to follow anti-segregation policies that were put in place during the Civil Rights Movement to protect Black workers. While discrimination is still technically illegal under other laws, this rollback weakens enforcement and accountability.

Let’s be real: how many more times do we need to see these blatant attacks on our rights before we wake up? How long will we wait for politicians—Black or white—to save us when history shows the system was never designed for our freedom, justice, or equality?

Lessons from History: A Time When We Built for Ourselves

During segregation, the Black community had:

✅ Our own businesses

✅ Our own sports leagues

✅ Our own banks

✅ Our own grocery stores

We were forced to build for ourselves—and when we did, we thrived. The Honorable Elijah Muhammad wrote in Message to the Blackman in America:

“There is no need for us, millions throughout the country, spending our money for the joy and happiness of others. As soon as we are thrown out of a job, we are back at the doors of white people, begging for bread and soup. Should we not have clothing factories making clothes for ourselves? Should we not have more stores to sell our people everything that they want or need?”

This is not just a history lesson—it is a warning and a solution.

We must stop being economically dependent on a system that has shown, time and time again, that it can change the rules whenever it benefits them. Every time we gain a little ground, they rewrite the laws or dismantle protections that were put in place after decades of struggle.

If we do not take control of our own economic survival, we will always be at the mercy of a political system that can shift with the direction of the wind.

The Next Step: Securing What We Build

If we are wise enough to rebuild our businesses, schools, and economic power, this time we must also be wise enough to protect what we create.

1. Buy Black & Build Black – Support and build businesses owned by our people to create jobs and economic stability.

2. Teach Financial Independence – Stop waiting on the system to fund our schools, businesses, and futures. Ownership is power.

3. Create Security for Our Communities – Learn from history. Our communities must be protected. Peaceful, but not passive in the face of aggression.

4. Become Global Thinkers – There are countries and opportunities outside of America where we can build and thrive. We are not limited to one place.

5. Prepare for Political Changes – If they can change laws overnight, we must have plans in place to survive and thrive no matter what.

This is a Crossroads—What Will You Do?

Laws are being rewritten. History is being erased. The safety nets that many relied on are being pulled from under us. We are being given warning after warning.

So, we ask you:

• What steps will you take in your community?

• How will you ensure your family is secure if segregation—under a different name—returns?

• Will you continue to wait for politicians, or will you build for yourself?

We are at a defining moment. Either we learn from history and act, or we will find ourselves begging at the doors of the very people who continue to show us that we are not a priority.

What will you do?