By Alliance Communications Coordinator Amy Durr
As numerous companies roll back their diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs and policies, is there anything that can be done to make them keep their feigned “concern” about social justice and their resulting so-called “commitments”? Do corporations have any real values or is it all about the pursuit of profit?
The boycott of Target over these very issues may reveal some answers. Most financial analysts say the current Target boycott is having a measurable impact on its bottom line. The boycott began with a “fast” on March 5, Ash Wednesday, when Black congregations around the nation stopped patronizing Target for Lent.
Black community leaders across the country were angry about Target’s choice to end all of their DEI initiatives, including its pledge to support Black businesses in its supply chain. Target chose to suddenly implement it with no warning and even before President Trump’s anti-DEI orders.
“Target not only rescinded many DEI efforts for employees — joining American corporations like Amazon, Walmart, McDonald’s, Ford, and Paramount — but reneged on its REACH (racial, equity, action, and change) initiative to invest more than $2 billion into Black-owned businesses by the end of 2025, following the murder of George Floyd in 2020,” says Rolling Stone.
A Black-Led 40-Day Lenten Fast on Target Purchases Takes a Real Bite
Consequently, Dr. Jamal Bryant, pastor of New Birth Missionary Church in Stonecrest, Georgia, called for a 40-day Lenten national fast on purchasing from Target.
What began as a seemingly David vs. Goliath battle pitching several Black congregations against one of the nation’s largest retailers soon spread and had a massive impact. Rolling Stone reports:
“During the fast, Target’s stock prices have sunk, seeing its biggest drop in four years at $88.73 per share in the beginning of April, from $266.38 a share in November 2021. The store’s foot traffic has also declined significantly, dropping to single-digit percentages, the lowest it has been since the fast started.”
“Nearly 200,000 people have registered for the Target fast at a website constructed by Bryant’s church, which provides instructions and more than 300,000 shopping alternatives patrons can utilize to find their needs.“
This clearly shows how a small group of dedicated consumers can have an immediate impact on corporate profits. We as consumers do have power and can use it effectively.
From a Fast to a Full-On Boycott: Why Target Target
Across the country Bryant and churches have pivoted from the fast into an actual boycott. In late April Bryant said, “You cannot be an ally for the oligarch and forget the marginalized and the oppressed,” Rolling Stone reported.
Bryant set his sights on Target, which is based in Minneapolis, because of its erasure of DEI and REACH initiatives and the economic support it receives from the American Black community at large, according to Rolling Stone. “It’s one of the highest employers of Black people in the country, and then [they] walked away from its pledge for George Floyd after the election of Donald Trump, so we wanted to target them first,” Bryant said.
Why Target’s Rollback Is So Painful and Dismaying
Target has long been perceived as a corporate “good guy” that cares about its team members and communities, donating significant amounts of money to local charitable efforts.
Following George Floyd’s murder by police in its home city of Minneapolis in 2020, Target came out as one of America’s corporate leaders and most forceful supporters of diversity and inclusion initiatives. In no uncertain terms it vowed to support Black Americans and began impressive DEI programs and investments in Black businesses.
In 2020, Target CEO Brian Cornell said Floyd’s murder, which took place just 10 minutes from Target’s headquarters, had a personal impact on him and Target employees, and Cornell vowed to reopen one of Target’s stores damaged in protests against police violence.
After the 2020 murder of George Floyd, Target pledged $10 million to social justice causes and committed to spending $2 billion with Black-owned businesses by 2025. In 2021, they expanded their investment in Black communities to $100 million.
These commitments were both impressive and inspiring for the Black community. They played an important role in the badly-needed healing in the wake of the murder of George Floyd and so many other Black men.
How sweet and hopeful it would have been if they just kept doing what they were doing. They could have been a true light to the world and a model for other businesses to follow, and been a counter-force to the savage attacks on DEI by Trump and his administration.
But sadly, this was not to be. Less than five years later, Target has dramatically dialed back its high-profile DEI program, shares CNN.
Because Target was so vocal in its diversity efforts in recent years, the company’s shift has alienated some loyal customers and suppliers, continues CNN. It has deeply hurt shoppers, employees and the very Black businesses who they had previously celebrated. Many have commented that they were gaslit and misled, losing all trust in Target and other corporations to keep their word. Just more of the same.
“We thought that they would hold the line. We thought that they would continue to stand for the values that we all hold dear,” said Nekima Levy Armstrong, a veteran civil rights lawyer in Minneapolis and founder of the Racial Justice Network. “But instead they acted cowardly, and they made the decision to bow down to the Trump administration. Well, we are here today saying we will not bow down. We will not step back, and we will not turn around.”
Target’s actions have also divided the Black community because so many Black people are employed by Target and face layoffs due to the decreased sales. In addition, the Black businesses that were brought into Target are now facing severe economic damage.
The questions have to be asked: Did this really need to happen and what can Target do to address this challenge?
It’s hopeful that Target CEO Brian Cornell is finally willing to sit down with the boycott organizers. However, Target is caught in a tough vise as it is under great pressure from the MAGA far right to abandon any sort of DEI initiatives. They are threatening a boycott if Target does cave to DEI. What would you do? And sadly, this polarized battle seems to be the future we and all corporations must face.
Expanding Black Consumer Power to the Big Kahuna: Dollar General
While successfully taking on Target, Dr. Jamal Bryant has set his sights on Dollar General, which is bigger than Target, Walmart and Costco combined. Dollar General has a massive presence in low income and Black urban settings where it employs a large Black workforce and is often the only grocery store. It’s also often the sole grocery store in rural areas, many of which have a significant population of low income and Black residents.
Consequently, Bryant has developed a two-part strategy in which he’s calling for a boycott in urban settings where there are other shopping options and protests and pressure campaigns in rural communities that have no alternatives.
And for all General Dollar stores, there is an electronic protest focused on overwhelming the company’s email account and phone lines, in addition to a social media campaign. It’s what supporters describe as “a mass technological campaign,” according to USA TODAY.
The reason for an electronic boycott in this instance is due to “food deserts” where fruits and vegetables are scarce, while some communities may have individuals — notably those in rural areas — with financial shortcomings, Bryant added.
“Like other corporations, Dollar General has bowed to pressure from the Trump administration and rolled back their diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives,” Bryant said. “Dollar General also needs to be held accountable for failing to invest in the very Black and low-income communities that make up the backbone of their customer base,” reports Newsweek.
How does all of this make you feel? Would you join the boycott? We’d love to hear your thoughts.