Retail giant Target is scaling back some of its diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, according to an internal memo sent to employees.
Target’s memo, written by Chief Community Impact and Equity Officer Kiera Fernandez, acknowledged that while “belonging for all is an essential part of our team and culture,” the company is “constantly listening, learning and adjusting.”
The company said it plans to conclude its three-year DEI goals and its Racial Equity Action and Change initiatives in 2025. It also promised to evaluate corporate partnerships “to ensure they are directly connected to our roadmap for growth.”
Target will also do away with external surveys focused on diversity, including the Human Rights Campaign’s Equality Index. Target’s “Supplier Diversity” team will also transition to “Supplier Engagement.”
The move follows a similar decision by Meta, which fully did away with its DEI programs earlier this month. In a memo, Meta acknowledged the Supreme Court’s 2023 decision to strike down affirmative action in college admissions as a key factor in the move. Other major companies to scale back on DEI initiatives include McDonald’s, Tractor Supply Co., Harley-Davidson, Walmart and the Brown-Forman Corp., parent company of Jack Daniel’s.
“The Supreme Court of the United States has recently made decisions signaling a shift in how courts will approach DEI,” the Meta memo reads. “The term ‘DEI’ has also become charged, in part because it is understood by some as a practice that suggests preferential treatment of some groups over others.”
President Donald Trump’s recent blitz of executive orders included a measure directing all federal government DEI offices to close. The order acknowledged the Biden administration’s involvement in pushing DEI across the federal government.
“The Biden administration forced illegal and immoral discrimination programs, going by the name ‘diversity, equity, and inclusion’ (DEI), into virtually all aspects of the Federal Government, in areas ranging from airline safety to the military,” Trump’s order reads. “That ends today. Americans deserve a government committed to serving every person with equal dignity and respect, and to expending precious taxpayer resources only on making America great.”
NASA on Thursday announced it would comply with the order, acknowledging DEI “divided Americans by race, wasted taxpayer dollars and resulted in shameful discrimination.”
Rep. Eric Burlison, R-Mo., on Wednesday accused the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives of altering a job title to evade the ban. He called out ATF Chief Diversity Officer Lisa Boykin, whose job title recently changed to “senior executive” without explanation.
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