*Target’s decision to scale back its Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives has sparked boycott calls.
Emmy-winning vegan lifestyle influencer Tabitha Brown addressed the backlash in an Instagram video, encouraging her followers to consider how boycotts might harm Black-owned brands sold at Target. Brown, a Target partner since 2022, has launched collections ranging from haircare to home goods with the retailer. As Newsweek reports, the company’s rollback of DEI efforts, which aimed to support diverse hiring and suppliers, reflects a broader corporate trend of reducing such commitments across major companies.
Kiera Fernandez, Target’s Chief Community Impact and Equity Officer, said in a statement on the DEI rollback: “Many years of data, insights, listening, and learning have been shaping this next chapter in our strategy. And as a retailer that serves millions of consumers every day, we understand the importance of staying in step with the evolving external landscape, now and in the future.”
In a nearly 10-minute Instagram video, Brown warned of the unintended consequences of a boycott of Black businesses.
“So many of us would be affected. Our sales would drop and our businesses would 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. There’s a process. And then, where are you gonna put it? You gotta have a place to store it, and that’s money. Then, you gotta have another place to sell it. Which is almost impossible sometimes,” the actress and best-selling author explained.
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“The thing that concerns me the most—and I want you to hear me and hear me well—if we all decide to stop supporting said businesses and say, ‘I can’t buy nothing from there,’ the business who were affected by the DEI ban, what that does is you take all of our sales and they dwindle down,” said Brown. Her “Donna’s Recipe” haircare products are sold at both Target and Amazon, while her seasonings are available at Walmart.
Watch her full commentary about Target’s DEI cuts in the Instagram clip above.
We reported earlier… many major U.S. companies are scaling back their diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives under pressure from political and shareholder activists, with this trend expected to grow during Trump’s second term.
According to AXIOS, the companies that have abandoned or rolled back their DEI programs include: Amazon, Boeing, Jack Daniels maker Brown-Forman, Caterpillar, Ford, Harley-Davidson, John Deere, Lowe’s, beverage wholesaler Molson Coors and McDonald’s, Meta, Nissan, Stanley Black & Decker, Tractor Supply, Toyota and Walmart.
Companies that have publicly defended their DEI policies include: American Airlines, Southwest Airlines, United Airlines, Apple, Costco, and Delta.
READ MORE FROM EURWEB.COM: Rev. Al Sharpton Calls for Boycott as Companies Rollback DEI Efforts
