DEI Is DOA: Walmart Is Latest Company to Abandon Diversity Initiatives
Walmart has announced the discontinuation of its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, a decision influenced by conservative activist Robby Starbuck, who had threatened a boycott over the company’s “woke” policies. Starbuck was able to engage in discussions with Walmart executives regarding these issues, advocating for corporate neutrality instead of enforcing left-wing policies.
Key changes include Walmart’s decision to stop participating in the pro-LGBTQ Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index, cease its racial equity training and funding of the Racial Equity Center, and refrain from evaluating suppliers based on demographic criteria. Starbuck highlighted that other companies like John Deere, Harley Davidson, and Ford have followed suit in rolling back their DEI policies.
While Walmart claims that these alterations have been under consideration for some time, they may have been expedited due to external pressure and a broader reflection on potential legal challenges following the Supreme Court’s ruling against affirmative action. The move has been seen by some as a positive step away from “woke” corporate practices, signaling a shift towards a more traditional business approach.
Walmart has became the latest major corporation to ditch its diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
That comes as welcome news for Americans who are sick and tired of woke nonsense.
The move came after conservative activist Robby Starbuck threatened to call a pre-Black Friday boycott to highlight the world’s largest retailer’s “woke” policies.
Starbuck, who has over 700,000 followers on social media platform X alone, has made it his mission to get companies to end DEI policies.
He recounted in a Monday post that Walmart representatives actually reached out to him when they learned he was investigating the Bentonville, Arkansas-based company.
“We were able to have frank conversations with Walmart, and as I’ve said for a long time I don’t ask companies to take on my political views. I am simply advocating for corporate neutrality,” Starbuck said. “I am not OK with left-wing policies being forced on me and people like me via things like DEI.”
His goal is to “change corporate America and get them back to a policy of sanity and neutrality,” he explained.
MASSIVE news: Walmart is ending their woke policies. I can now exclusively tell you what’s changing and how it happened.
Last week I told execs at @Walmart that I was doing a story on wokeness there. Instead we had productive conversations to find solutions.
Below are the… pic.twitter.com/BD02xJQ0X2
— Robby Starbuck (@robbystarbuck) November 25, 2024
Bloomberg noted Starbuck’s apparent role in Monday’s announcement by Walmart.
Walmart has decided to no longer participate in the pro-LGBTQ Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index.
The retailer said it will not carry inappropriate sexual and transgender products marketed toward children.
Walmart will discontinue its racial equity training and stop funding its Racial Equity Center, which it established in 2020 in response to the George Floyd protests.
Further, the corporation will no longer evaluate its suppliers based on certain demographic criteria.
Bloomberg reported that Walmart has an ethnically diverse workforce, with people of color making up over half of its 1.6 million employees in the U.S.
Starbuck said that other companies that have pulled back on DEI include: Tractor Supply, John Deere, Harley Davidson, Polaris, Indian Motorcycle, Lowe’s, Ford, Coors, Stanley Black & Decker, Jack Daniels, DeWalt tools, Craftsman, Caterpillar, Boeing, and Toyota.
Walmart told Bloomberg its decision to reverse course on DEI policies had been in the works for months, but perhaps attention from Starbuck nudged it along.
The news outlet pointed out that corporations have been looking at the U.S. Supreme Court decision in June 2023 finding affirmative action in college admissions is unconstitutional and realizing they may be next to face similar legal challenges to their DEI policies.
NPR reported, “A Walmart spokesperson said some of its policy changes have been in progress for a while. For example, it has been moving away from using the word DEI in job titles and communications and started to use the word ‘belonging.’”
The demise of wokeness cannot come soon enough. It’s reassuring that companies like Walmart are seeing the light, too.
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