Target learns that bowing to anti-DEI backers can be costly, a lesson for those bowing to Trump

Los Angeles Times ^ | May 28, 2025 3 AM PT | Michael Hiltzik

[E. Pluribus Unum]

Has any American company run away from a public commitment faster than Target?

In an Aug. 19, 2020, conference call, Target Chief Executive Brian Cornell forthrightly put his company in the forefront of the quest for racial and ethnic justice. George Floyd had been murdered by Police Officer Derek Chauvin, abetted by several other officers in Minneapolis, Target’s home city, only about three months earlier. Calls for recognition of the racism exposed by the killing were still reverberating nationwide.

“Our team is passionately demanding equity and justice for our Black colleagues and guests,” Cornell said. “We are united in that passion and committed ... to playing an active role in addressing the persistent racial injustices that have sparked protests around the world.”

If the founding history of this country is any guide, those who stood up in court to vindicate constitutional rights and, by so doing, served to promote the rule of law, will be the models lauded when this period of American history is written.

— Federal Judge Beryl Howell

He said Target would put its influence to work “to determine actions and resources that will move us towards a more inclusive, equitable and just society.”

The company ultimately committed to increase the racial diversity of its workforce and to spend billions of dollars with Black-owned suppliers.

How times change. This January, Target backed down. On Jan. 24 — just four days after President Trump launched his second term with a flurry of antidiversity executive orders — Target announced it was “concluding our three-year diversity, equity and inclusion goals” and its “Racial Equity Action and Change initiatives.” (REACH was an initiative Cornell had announced in that 2020 call.)

The company also said it was withdrawing from “all external diversity-focused surveys,” including a widely followed Corporate Equality index sponsored by the...

[BradyLS]

My guess is Target is dropping DEI merchandise because even the shoplifters don’t want it.