At least 21 black White House employees have left since the end of last year or are planning to leave soon, the American newspaper Politico reported. According to the publication, current White House employees attribute the departure of black colleagues to weak support from superiors and meager opportunities for promotion.

He quoted an official there: “At the beginning, they attracted a lot of black people without creating an infrastructure to keep them or help them succeed… If there is no clear infrastructure on how to succeed, you will become invisible in this space. It’s like you weren’t there.” Some cite low wages, which make it hard to keep black employees in a city with a high cost of living, among the reasons for those layoffs.

One staffer explained, “White House salaries are traditionally low, and many blacks in these positions are not from wealthy families.” The wave of workers and employees leaving the White House was so obvious that some people called it a “blackseat” phenomenon, from the words “black” and “exit,” according to officials quoted by the newspaper. After his election, US President Joe Biden promised to assemble the most “diverse” government in the history of the country, an administration that should become the face and reflection of America.