The world’s largest retailer is scaling back its diversity, equity, and inclusion programs following pressure from a conservative activist, making it the latest major corporation to walk back its commitment to progressive workplace initiatives.
Conservative activist Robby Starbuck announced on X Monday night that Walmart is dropping several DEI policies after he had conversations with company executives. Walmart is the latest company with red-state clientele to cut its DEI programming in response to pressure from Starbuck.
“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,” Starbuck said on X.
Walmart will no longer participate in the left-wing Human Rights Campaign’s corporate equality index and will examine the Walmart marketplace to ensure sexually explicit products are not being marketed to children. Walmart will also be reviewing grant funding of LGBT pride events to ensure it is not funding sexually inappropriate content geared towards kids.
Furthermore, Walmart is going to evaluate its supplier diversity programs to prevent preferential treatment based on race, halt racial-equity trainings, stop using the term DEI, end its Racial Equity Center, and halt the use of “latinx,” the deeply unpopular and much-derided progressive term for latinos and latinas.
“Our purpose, to help people save money and live better, has been at our core since our founding 62 years ago and continues to guide us today. We can deliver on it because we are willing to change alongside our associates and customers who represent all of America,” Walmart said in a statement.
“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.”
A spokesperson for Walmart confirmed to National Review that the company is going through with the changes Starbuck laid out and said the Center for Racial Equity is a five-year initiative the company started in 2020 and will not be renewing after 2025.
Like many prominent corporations, Walmart upped the ante on DEI four years ago during the racial reckoning that took place due to the death of George Floyd. The reckoning was accompanied by months of destructive race riots nationwide and a violent crime surge in U.S. cities that claimed thousands of lives in the process.
Walmart’s move to reduce its DEI offerings follows the footsteps of other companies such as Tractor Supply, Harley-Davidson, John Deere, Ford, and other well-known American brands.
The future of DEI in corporate America and academia is even more uncertain in the wake of President-elect Donald Trump’s resounding victory over Vice President Kamala Harris this election season. Trump’s win was considered a repudiation of the identity-focused worldview common in DEI programs that was a centerpiece of Harris’s political career.
The incoming Trump administration is expected to target DEI programs in colleges and universities, K-12 schools, corporations, and other institutions where progressive bureaucracies have become commonplace. Red states including Florida and Texas have already passed legislation banning DEI initiatives in higher education, and similar bills have been introduced elsewhere.
Conservative organizations have also taken the DEI fight to the courts – filing numerous lawsuits alleging DEI programs violate the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by discrimination against certain demographic groups. The legal environment surrounding DEI changed significantly due to the Supreme Court’s ruling last year barring race-based college admissions policies under the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause.
A recent study found that DEI trainings inflict considerably psychological harm, increase hostility, and make participants more open to nakedly authoritarian rhetoric, including adapted Hitler quotes, as NR reported.
Its findings match the views of DEI critics who believe the left-wing ideological programs sharply divide Americans based on race while prioritizing a person’s identity over their character and merit.