Walmart Becomes the Latest (and Largest) Brand to Slash DEI Initiatives

The latest diversity, equity, and inclusion domino to fall is also the largest, as retail colossus Walmart confirmed that it is scaling back or eliminating related initiatives, including no longer using the term DEI in official communications, reviewing grants to Pride events, and not renewing the racial equity center commitments.

Anti-DEI activist Robby Starbuck claimed credit for Walmart’s about-face, saying in a post on X Monday that he contacted Walmart last week and threatened to urge his 700,000-plus followers on the platform to boycott the chain before Black Friday and the start of the holiday shopping season.

However, a spokesperson for Walmart told Bloomberg that the company had already been reviewing its DEI efforts.

Pressure from Starbuck has been a factor in DEI reversals and rollbacks at companies including Boeing, Caterpillar, Craftsman, Dewalt, Ford, Harley-Davidson, Indian Motorcycle, Jack Daniel’s, John Deere, Lowe’s, Molson Coors, Polaris, Stanley Black & Decker, Toyota, and Tractor Supply.

And fellow retail giant Target pulled Pride Month merchandise from roughly 2,000 stores in June.

Starbuck said in his X post, “Last week, I told execs at Walmart that I was doing a story on wokeness there. Instead, we had productive conversations to find solutions … I have to give their executives major credit because this will send shockwaves throughout corporate America. This is the biggest win yet for our movement to end wokeness in corporate America.”

Walmart said in a statement shared with The Associated Press, “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.”

The retailer also confirmed the steps that it is taking with the AP, including:

• No longer using the term DEI in official communications.
• No longer considering gender and race when offering contracts to suppliers.
• No longer participating in the Human Rights Campaign’s annual benchmark index that measures workplace inclusion for LGBTQ+ employees.
• Better monitoring its third-party marketplace items to ensure that sexual and transgender products aimed at minors are not featured, including chest binders for young people going through gender changes.
• Reviewing grants to Pride events to make sure the company is not financially supporting sexualized content that may be unsuitable for minors.
• Not renewing the racial equity center that was established via a five-year, $100 million commitment from the company to “address the root causes of gaps in outcomes experienced by Black and African American people in education, health, finance, and criminal justice systems.”

Starbuck added in his X post that the retailer also pledged to no longer use certain demographic data to determine financing eligibility, stop using the term LatinX in official communications, and discontinue racial equity training through the Racial Equity Institute.

Walmart was one of many companies to emphasize DEI following the murder of George Floyd by police in 2020, just recently implementing measures such as new diversity hiring guidelines, a race and inclusion curriculum for U.S. employees, and strengthening relationships with historically Black colleges and Hispanic-serving institutions, Bloomberg reported.

Bloomberg also cited the company’s most recent culture and diversity report, saying it had sourced over $13 billion in goods and services from more than 2,400 diverse suppliers since January, and adding that people of color represented 51% of its total U.S. workforce, with women making up 49% of its new hires, women of color 29%, and people of color 59%.

“Companies like Amazon and Target should be very nervous that their top competitor dropped woke policies first,” Starbuck said in his post on X. “I think Target specifically will suffer serious sales problems as a result and Walmart will benefit.”