America is facing a labor crisis. Over 800,000 skilled trade jobs—such as electricians, plumbers, HVAC technicians, and construction workers—are currently open and unfilled. These aren’t minimum-wage positions. These are high-paying, high-demand careers that don’t require a college degree—just training, certification, and the willingness to work with your hands.
These are the same kinds of jobs that built the Black middle class.
And yet, we’re not in line to fill them.
Why? Because we gave up the tools—and with them, we gave up the wealth.
There was a time, not long ago, when Black Americans dominated the trades. We built our own homes, churches, and schools. We worked as mechanics, masons, carpenters, and electricians. These trades didn’t just provide income—they built independence. They gave Black families the means to own property, send their children to school, and escape the cycle of poverty.
But then we made a critical mistake. We forgot how the Black middle class was actually built.
Somewhere between the late 1970s and today, we embraced a dangerous message: that skilled labor was inferior. We told our children to aim higher—meaning college—without questioning whether college would offer them a return on that investment. It was Black professionals, educators, and political voices who pushed the narrative that “a degree is the only way out.”
What it led to was predictable: a generation saddled with student debt, holding degrees with no job prospects.
Liberal arts majors with no clear market value. Sociology graduates working in retail. Black youth who were pushed away from trades and into institutions that sold them dreams and handed them bills.
Meanwhile, schools stripped out vocational education. Auto shops were closed. Woodshops were replaced with computer labs. Welding, plumbing, and electrical training vanished from public school curriculums—especially in Black communities.
We didn’t just abandon the trades. We turned our backs on the very engines that built generational wealth.
Today, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects the following annual job openings:
- Electricians: 80,200
- Plumbers: 43,300
- HVAC Technicians: 42,500
- Construction Workers: 663,500
That’s 829,500 jobs—many paying $60,000 to $100,000 annually, with no college degree required.
Yet we are nowhere near prepared to take advantage of this.
This isn’t just an economic oversight—it’s a strategic failure.
If you can’t build your community, you don’t own your community. If you can’t fix your own infrastructure, you stay dependent. And if your youth are trained for an economy that doesn’t exist, the result is generational stagnation.
We keep asking why we don’t own anything—but the answer is right in front of us: we stopped building.
Meanwhile, immigrant communities are quietly dominating these trades. They’re wiring houses, laying pipes, installing AC units, and walking away with both income and equity—while we stay focused on political symbolism and cultural gestures.
It’s time for a reset.
We must reintroduce trade training in schools. We must organize Black-led apprenticeships, cooperatives, and certification programs. And we must break the stigma that tells our youth that working with your hands is “less than.”
Because in truth, a skilled tradesman can do something many of our so-called “educated” can’t: produce something of value without waiting for permission.
The economy is not biased toward degrees—it is biased toward supply, demand, and competence. Right now, the demand is high. The pay is good. And the opportunity is real.
If we don’t respond to that, we won’t just be poor—we’ll be obsolete.
This is The Black Economy, and this is the bottom line:
When we gave up the tools, we handed over the wealth. But it’s not too late to pick them back up.
Sir, I’m an old white guy now, been in trouble early on, but straightened out, and worked in the construction industry to raise my family. I’m now retired and not ashamed of any of my skills. In fact proud, especially when I offer my assistance for friends and neighbors. I like to think I’m pretty handy. And I agree with you, as I watch “intellectuals” that think they are brilliant but can’t turn a screw driver.
But that’s is not why I’m writing to you. I’ve been watching what’s going on between us, and don’t think it’s getting better, and don’t think it’s an accident. I think people in power, want us to hate each other. Why? Not sure, but do believe together we’d be stronger, and that frightens them. So, how do we start to fix it? I think open and honest conversations, with listening and understanding.
The little bit I see from your Webb site, suggests you are touching on the beginnings, please stay honest, I wish you the best.
“Because in truth, a skilled tradesman can do something many of our so-called “educated” can’t: produce something of value without waiting for permission.”
The attitude in the above statement is offensive and is one of the reasons why we have leadership that doesn’t care about citizens and lack human decency. Educators produce all kinds of knowledge including those in trade skills. So-called educated, and uneducated for that matter, struggle because of the demands of capitalism, racism and sexism. There is no excuse for someone to work full-time yet still not be able to afford their basic needs. We need all kinds of people to thrive as a society, but we live in one that happily elected a convicted felon and sexual predator to the White House with the support of elected officials and big businesses across the nation. I hope many young people take advantage of the trade schools that offer them the training and certification that we need. But I also hope that people continue to learn how the world turns and to find ways to make it more humane and just, which requires more than being able to turn a screw.