Black-owned companies unite to reject Target boycott over DEI
Black-owned brands are rallying against a boycott of Target following the retailer’s decision to cease its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies. Influenced by social media, the call for a boycott stems from Target’s alignment with other companies that have reversed commitments to DEI practices. Prominent figures like influencer Tabitha Brown,who sells products at Target,have urged consumers to continue supporting the store,emphasizing that a decrease in sales could jeopardize the presence of their brands on shelves. Other black business owners echoed these sentiments, stressing the importance of consumer support for their ongoing success in retail. While Target faces criticism, companies like Costco continue to uphold their DEI policies amidst a landscape where several major corporations, including Meta, McDonald’s, and Walmart, have rolled back similar initiatives.
Black-owned companies unite to reject Target boycott over DEI
As retailer Target faces calls to boycott shopping there, the black-owned brands whose products it sells are pleading with consumers not to.
Target is the latest to stop its diversity, equity, and inclusion policies, a practice of preferring minority employees in the workplace by increasing opportunities for them. As a result, some online have called to avoid shopping at the retailer, as other stores are facing boycotts for doing the same.
However, black business owners have flooded social media in recent days to discourage a boycott. Many of them pointed out their own products on the stores’ shelves as reasons to continue shopping there.
Among them was Tabitha Brown, an influencer who got her start on TikTok and now sells kitchenware at Target. She told her 4.4 million followers on Instagram, “I get it,” but encouraged them to continue to buy her products at Target.
“Our business will be hurt, and if any of you know business, it doesn’t just happen overnight where you can just go take all your stuff and pull it off the shelves,” Brown explained in a video. “You take all our sales and they dwindle down, and then those companies get to say, ‘Oh, your products are not performing,’ and they can remove them from the shelves and then put their preferred businesses on the shelves.”
“We have worked so hard and spent so much to be here- and we need your support to be successful in retail so we can scale and someday have our own,” black-owned doll company Beautiful Curly Me wrote in a post on Instagram. “The news from Target and others is sad, frustrating, and so disheartening, but please, let’s rally together and be intentional with what we purchase at these retailers. Numbers do not lie. Our sales performance is what will help us grow and expand. Our voices matter, and we belong on shelves just like those other multimillion-dollar brands.”
“Even though I’m disappointed, I’m not that surprised,” LipBar owner Melissa Butler said in an Instagram video. “I always thought that the 2020 commitments were a farce. Anything that is forced is going to be a farce, and I think part of it is because Trump is emboldening companies to reverse commitments that they never wanted to do in the first place.”
Meanwhile, Meta, McDonald’s, Walmart, Lowe’s, Toyota, Ford, and others have rolled back their DEI practices. These companies will no longer make hiring and firing decisions based on race or any other identity while phasing out the phrase “DEI.”
Costco is one standout retailer that is keeping its policies to suit DEI practices.
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