Caving In To Conservative Pressure, Walmart Ditches DEI Initiatives

November 27, 2024

Walmart’s changes come nearly one week after Robby Starbuck, an anti-woke activist and filmmaker, warned the company that he was working on a story about wokeness at the company.

Walmart is the latest company to abandon its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives following mounting pressure from conservative activists.

Despite being the nation’s largest private employer, the retail giant said it would not renew the racial equity center it created following the murder of George Floyd in 2020. The company will also no longer participate in the annual benchmark index from LGBTQ+ advocacy group the Human Rights Campaign, USA Today reports.

Walmart’s plans to abandon its DEI initiatives come nearly one week after Robby Starbuck, an anti-woke activist and filmmaker, warned on X that the company that he was working on a story about wokeness at the company.

“Removing wokeness from Walmart has both downstream effects on suppliers, and it sets the tone for corporate America,” Starbuck told USA Today.

“Changing the normal operating policy at a nearly $1 trillion company is a gargantuan feat that many have tried to achieve but no one until now has actually been able to get done.”

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

Starbuck added that the company has committed to monitoring third-party items in its marketplace for “inappropriate sexual and/or transgendered products marketed to children,” will review Pride funding, and will no longer use the term LatinX in official communications.

BLACK ENTERPRISE reached out to Walmart for more insight about what led to its decision to abandon DEI efforts, the company’s response to employees and customers who may feel rejected by its decision, and whether inclusion and equity are still priorities for the company.

A spokesperson said in an email, “Our purpose, to help people save money and live better, has been at our core since our founding 62 years ago and continues to guide us today. We can deliver on it because we are willing to change alongside our associates and customers who represent all of America. We’ve been on a journey and know we aren’t perfect, but every decision comes from a place of wanting to foster a sense of belonging, to open doors to opportunities for all our associates, customers and suppliers and to be a Walmart for everyone.”

Other brands, including Ford and Lowe’s, have also halted diversity initiatives following pressures from Starbuck and other conservative groups who claim DEI is an issue.

As the political climate shifts, President-elect Donald Trump has pledged to crack down on businesses pushing DEI initiatives that work with the federal government.

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