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John Deere ends support of ‘social or cultural awareness’ events, distances from inclusion efforts
AP ^ | July 17, 2024

Posted on 07/18/2024 2:54:50 PM PDT by george76

Farm equipment maker John Deere says it will no longer sponsor “social or cultural awareness” events, becoming the latest major U.S. company to distance itself from diversity and inclusion measures after being targeted by conservative backlash...

John Deere also said it would audit all training materials “to ensure the absence of socially-motivated messages” in compliance with federal and local laws. It did not specify what those messages would include...

John Deere added “the existence of diversity quotas and pronoun identification have never been and are not company policy.” But it noted that it would still continue to “track and advance” the diversity of the company, without providing further details on how those metrics would be recorded.

...

Deere & Co. arrives just weeks after rural retailer Tractor Supply ended an array of its corporate diversity and climate efforts. Both announcements came after backlash piled up online from conservative activists opposed to diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, sponsorship of LGBTQ+ Pride events and climate advocacy.

Conservative political commentator and filmmaker Robby Starbuck appeared to lead the criticism of both companies on X.

Starbuck posted that John Deere’s announcement marked “another huge win in our war on wokeness,” but said that it still wasn’t enough, calling on the company to completely eliminate its DEI policies and no longer participate in Corporate Equality Index scoring from the Human Rights Campaign, the largest advocacy group for LGBTQ+ rights in the U.S.

Tractor Supply took that more aggressive approach last month. In a June 27 announcement, the Brentwood, Tennessee, company pledged to eliminate all of its DEI roles while retiring current DEI goals and stop submitting data to the Human Rights Campaign.

The move, while celebrated by conservative activists like Starbuck, sparked outrage from critics of the new position

...

Legal attacks against companies’ diversity, equity and inclusion efforts have also drawn more attention following the Supreme Court’s 2023 ruling to end affirmative action in college admissions. Many conservative and anti-DEI activists have been seeking to set a similar precedent in the working world.

“The blowback and the potential vulnerabilities are real,” said Jen Stark, co-director of the Center for Business and Social Justice at BSR, a consulting network of more than 300 companies.


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Mexico; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; US: Illinois; US: Indiana; US: Tennessee; US: Washington; War
KEYWORDS: affirmativeaction; broke; deere; dei; die; diversity; farm; getwoke; gobroke; johndeere; mexico; waronfarmers; waronfarms; waronfood; waronranchers; woke
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1 posted on 07/18/2024 2:54:50 PM PDT by george76
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Make Meritocracy Great Again


2 posted on 07/18/2024 2:56:56 PM PDT by Gene Eric (Don't be a statist! )
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To: george76
Not enough John Deere.

Walk away.

Walk completely away.

3 posted on 07/18/2024 2:59:51 PM PDT by politicket
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To: george76

Pretty stunning, really.

It will be very interesting to see if public companies who aren’t as directly tied to “Trump country” as Deere and TSC will be making similar moves. (Especially since they were so quick to embrace this BS).


4 posted on 07/18/2024 3:00:00 PM PDT by bigbob
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To: george76
Winning.

5 posted on 07/18/2024 3:03:50 PM PDT by Governor Dinwiddie (LORD, grant thy people grace to withstand the temptations of the world, the flesh, and the devil.)
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To: george76

Farmers and ranchers need to demand that these Agricultural companies hire from the population of their customers. That means they hire people from small towns and rural areas and totally put into this DEI crap in the garbage bin. If the companies don’t then they can go bankrupt.


6 posted on 07/18/2024 3:04:10 PM PDT by wildcard_redneck (He who sacrifices freedom for security deserves neither.)
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To: george76

Only because they started feeling the heat from customers


7 posted on 07/18/2024 3:04:43 PM PDT by NWFree (Somebody has to say it 🤪)
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To: george76

They are still moving to Mexico and screwing farmers with the right to repair policies.

Hope they go under.


8 posted on 07/18/2024 3:05:01 PM PDT by DesertRhino (2016 Star Wars, 2020 The Empire Strikes Back, 2024... RETURN OF THE JEDI. )
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To: george76

Too late. They’ve shown who they truly are.


9 posted on 07/18/2024 3:07:02 PM PDT by T.B. Yoits
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To: george76
They are laying off Americans and moving production to Mexico so they can count on me not buying anymore of their products.

I'm in farm country and Deere is big here but from the coffee shop discussion they screwed up massively on this one..

Hope they get the Budweiser, AMBEV treatment.

10 posted on 07/18/2024 3:23:31 PM PDT by Newbomb Turk
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To: george76

Told the wokester Ye shall reap what ye have sown.

“A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up”
(Galatians 6:7–9).


11 posted on 07/18/2024 3:26:19 PM PDT by frank ballenger (There's a battle outside and it's raging. It'll soon shake your windows and rattle your walls.)
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To: george76

“wink, wink”


12 posted on 07/18/2024 3:30:01 PM PDT by dynachrome (Auslander Raus!)
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To: george76

Stay in your lane, John Deere.


13 posted on 07/18/2024 3:33:37 PM PDT by griswold3 (Truth, Beauty and Goodness. )
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To: politicket

Do I still need my Juan Deere hat?


14 posted on 07/18/2024 3:37:32 PM PDT by Scrambler Bob (Running Rampant, and not endorsing nonsense; My pronoun is EXIT. And I am generally full of /S)
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To: Scrambler Bob
Do I still need my Juan Deere hat?

Only if you have a scarecrow in your field needing adornment.

15 posted on 07/18/2024 3:44:30 PM PDT by politicket
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To: george76

Too late...give them Bud Light treatment.


16 posted on 07/18/2024 4:15:49 PM PDT by Bonemaker (invictus maneo)
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To: george76

They put Americans out of work and moved their factory to Mexico. Screw them.


17 posted on 07/18/2024 4:18:02 PM PDT by central_va (I won't be reconstructed and I do not give a damn...)
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To: bigbob

It’s the CEO class of filth pushing this crap.


18 posted on 07/18/2024 4:18:30 PM PDT by Bonemaker (invictus maneo)
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To: DesertRhino
They are still moving to Mexico

Didn't you see them announce John Deere is lowering their prices by 10% now that they are Hecho En Mexico!!! Viva la Free Trade!!!

19 posted on 07/18/2024 4:20:16 PM PDT by central_va (I won't be reconstructed and I do not give a damn...)
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To: george76
I'll check back with JD in five or ten years and see if they've sufficiently scrubbed away their wokeness. In the meantime I'll check out their non-woke competitors.

It seems like just yesterday that I stopped doing biz with Bed, Bath and Whatever.

20 posted on 07/18/2024 4:21:16 PM PDT by The Duke (Not without incident)
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