Editorial Note: Opinions and thoughts are the author’s own and not those of AFROTECH™.
Just two weeks into his presidency, the Trump administration has already decreed several executive orders to undo much of former President Joe Biden’s work in the past four years. As many predicted, President Donald Trump has come after DEI initiatives, signing an executive order to remove all DEI programs within the Federal government.
Corporations like JP Morgan Chase & Co, Costco, and Goldman Sachs have all stated that they plan to retain their corporate DEI programs and continue with business as usual. However, other big retailers like Walmart, Meta, McDonald’s, and Target have rolled back their previous DEI promises in accordance with the Trump administration.
In recent years, corporate DEI initiatives have faced increasing attacks, with right-wing critics arguing that efforts to promote diversity are discriminatory against white people. Many corporations began implementing diversity, equity, and inclusion programs after the murder of George Floyd in 2020. Since then, many organizations have created new sectors to ensure that DEI remains a core principle within their company. However, positions created to ensure equity and inclusion across retail, arts, and entertainment have been eliminated years later.
Five years ago, Target created a program to assist Black families with career management and improve Black consumers’ shopping experience. Last week, Target told their employees they were ending the program and not renewing their DEI initiatives. According to AP News, Target and the Target Foundation have made six-figure donations to empower Black businesses and LGBTQ+ acceptance. Their website hosts a slew of Black and minority-owned businesses for consumers to shop from, like The Lip Bar, The Doux, and recently, Tabitha Brown, who has clothing, hair products, household goods, and more on the Target shelves.
Although “racial equity” is still listed on the foundation’s website, any mention of DEI has now been scrubbed. Many consumers found the updated explanation unclear and were concerned about the broader implications of a major brand like Target yielding to the administration’s demands. Activists and consumers alike have called for a boycott of Target as they become the latest company to roll back on their DEI initiatives.
Tabitha Brown and the other CEOs of Black-owned businesses sold in Target quickly responded to consumers calling to boycott Target. In a 10-minute video on Instagram, the actress and best-selling author responded by telling consumers that she understood their frustration but urged them not to boycott the brand.
“As disheartening as it is for me, I’m not the only one affected by this. It’s for everyone who is a woman-owned business, minority-owned business, Black-owned business,” Brown said. “ It’s for so many of us who have worked very hard to be placed in retail, to finally be seen and have proof of retail because contrary to whatever the world might tell you, it has been very hard for Black-owned business to hit shelves. Which is why it’s such a big deal when we do, and finally land inside of retail. So it is definitely heartbreaking to feel unsupported.”
The reactions to Tabitha’s video, along with responses from other owners, prompted mixed reactions. Some felt that owners speaking out against the boycott were selfish and against a cause that could benefit the Black community. Others shared this sentiment but chose to continue shopping at Target, intentionally directing their spending toward Black-owned brands.
One of the benefits of a small business being on Target shelves comes with infrastructure to mass produce products and obtain exposure to a wider audience. Many of these business owners wouldn’t be able to handle a mass amount of orders on their own and have contracts with Target that they have to commit to, which could be challenging to pull out of at this time. Brown mentioned in the video that she has a contract to abide by for the next year but will take this time to assess her future with Target now that they have rolled back on its DEI commitments.
While it’s easier to judge why business owners haven’t pulled out of their contracts with Target, I don’t think their rush to tell consumers to continue buying products is necessarily a great response either.
Understandably, consumers are worried about what this will mean for Target’s future. If the company shows that it doesn’t care for diversity or inclusion in its stores, it doesn’t make sense to continue making the company richer. Target’s severing of DEI programs comes from a fear of retaliation from the Trump administration, which only further proves its weakness as a company when others have taken a strict stance.
I don’t believe that consumers should attack business owners who are trying to navigate the complexity of the situation. All the blame and ire should remain on companies like Target, who have chosen to bend the knee to Trump rather than remain convicted in their principles. However, while I don’t believe that corporate DEI will save us or completely eliminate bias, it was a place to start, and the vitriol from Trump’s administration proves that those programs were doing something right.
