Several of America’s biggest brands have rolled back their diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies and programs in 2024 amid intense public scrutiny and fierce consumer backlash.

The Biden-Harris administration has led large-scale policies. push For increasing DEI efforts in government, including President Joe Biden’s signature presidential order In June 2021, it established a “Government-wide commitment to advance diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility” in the federal workforce. Some major companies, including Walmart, Boeing, Lowe’s, and Ford Motor Co., have begun scaling back their DEI practices this year amid mounting backlash.

“American companies have realized that DEI is their loser when it comes to doing business.” microphone Gonzalez, the Angeles T. Arredondo E. Pluribus Unam senior fellow at the Heritage Foundation, told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “The American public has begun to express disapproval of DEI and has largely seen through it since 2020.”

Walmart, the world’s largest retailer, began rolling back some of its DEI-related policies in November, including not renewing the Center for Racial Equality’s five-year commitment and moving away from the Human Rights Campaign’s Equality Index Measurement Workplace. It also includes an announcement that it will withdraw. Inclusion. ” The retailer will also stop using the terms “LatinX” and “DEI” in public communications. According to In The Independent.

Walmart isn’t the only company to recently rescind its DEI policies. In August, the major home improvement chain Lowe’s decided to scale back some of its DEI efforts. Robbie Starbuck is a conservative activist vocal music critic DEI practices of various companies, said In a post on X, he sent a message to Lowe’s executives ahead of Lowe’s decision to rescind some of its DEI policies, saying he intended to “expose woke policies.” (Related article: Costco embraces DEI as other companies move in the opposite direction)

In August, Ford Motor Co. announced that it would be scaling back its diversity policies, including ceasing participation in “external culture surveys.” Automakers like Ford are facing challenges in the electric vehicle (EV) market amid weak consumer demand. Ford reported a $1.3 billion loss on its EV business in the first quarter. In August, the company announced that it would cancel plans to build a three-row electric SUV and postpone plans to launch an electric pickup truck model until 2027.

Boeing, a top airline manufacturer, laid off its entire DEI division in October amid union strikes, significant financial losses and scrutiny over various safety issues. One safety issue the company has come under scrutiny for is when a door plug on a 737 Max 9 plane was ripped off during an Alaska Airlines flight in January, leading to a federal investigation.

In October, Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg announced plans to cut the company’s workforce by 10%, citing the company’s various financial and operational challenges. Following Boeing’s decision, one insider said: said City Journal said in November, “When you start focusing on delivering value rather than maintaining status, you discover what creates value. It’s not DEI.”

“If the words ‘diversity, equity, and inclusion’ are traditionally meant, then there’s nothing wrong with that,” Gonzalez told DCNF. “But what woke ideology does is kind of reverse that and change the meaning of the words, so inclusion actually means exclusion and diversity means illegal and unconstitutional racial That means quotas, and equity means the opposite of racial equality. So the American public saw through that and started pushing back, and in 2024, companies started pulling back from all DEI initiatives.”

“Virtually the only entity that has continued to embrace DEI is the Biden administration, which was committed from the beginning, from the first executive order,” Gonzalez added.

When President-elect Donald Trump returns to the White House next year, he could impact DEI efforts across the country as he criticizes DEI practices and promises to root out “woke” ideology. In November, dozens of investment advisers sent letters to some of America’s largest companies warning that their diversity programs would be held accountable if President Trump returns to the Oval Office.

“I think it’s important to point out how the actual nature and substance of DEI forced these companies to retreat once it was exposed to daylight.” stefan Padfield, executive director of the National Center for Free Enterprise Project, told DCNF.

Target has faced intense backlash in recent years for supporting LGBTQ initiatives. In May, the company announced that it would sell its LGBTQ Pride collection exclusively online and in select stores in 2023, following backlash over its LGBTQ Pride collection. Boycott over LGBTQ-themed product prices Last summer, the market value was said to be close to $13 billion. bloomberg.

Some activist investors criticize Target’s ‘woke’ policies, Fox Business reported. The company’s stock price fell in 2016 amid a boycott after the company introduced a policy in 2016 that allowed customers to choose changing rooms and bathrooms based on their gender identity.

After Bud Light partnered with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney in 2023, sales of Bud Light’s beer reportedly decreased in thousands of bars and restaurants across the United States. The company lost $1.4 billion in U.S. beer sales in 2023 due to boycotts over marketing decisions. According to to Forbes.

“We’re starting to realize that it’s not just customer backlash against these actual content. [DEI] Not just the program, but also the market reaction of how expensive this is – how harmful, value-destroying and expensive it is,” Padfield told DCNF.

Some universities have also begun scaling back their DEI requirements this year, including announcing on December 5th that they would abandon diversity statements in hiring, promotion, and tenure decisions after apparent pressure from faculty. This includes the University of Michigan, which made the announcement. President Trump previously introduced a plan that he promised would “save” education from “radical left-wing lunatics.”

Target, Boeing, Ford, Lowe’s and Walmart did not respond to requests for comment from DCNF.

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