Walmart is rolling back diversity plans after pressure from a conservative activist
Walmart, the world’s largest retailer, has announced it will no longer consider race and gender policies when awarding supplier contracts after facing pressure from conservative activist Robby Starbuck.
The company is rolling back several diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs following criticism that they were harmful to certain groups.
As part of the changes, Walmart is closing the Center for Racial Equity, a nonprofit that received $100 million in funding from the retailer in 2020. The company will also complete racial equity training for employees, review its support for Pride events. , and withdrew from the ratings of the Human Rights Campaign, an LGBT advocacy group.
Additionally, Walmart said it will monitor online sellers for sexual or sexual products marketed to children and remove items deemed inappropriate.
The commitments come after Robby Starbuck, a hard-line “anti-resurrection” activist and former music video director, threatened to rally his 700,000 followers on social media platform X (formerly Twitter) to boycott Walmart before Black Friday if changes were not made. In a post on X, Starbuck said: “I’m delighted to have found these changes ahead of Christmas when shoppers have fewer supermarkets to spend money on that don’t follow the wake-up call.”
Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and advisor to President-elect Donald Trump, who has been a vocal critic of DEI’s policies, amplified the news by retweeting an article about Walmart’s decision, commenting: “The situation has changed.”
Walmart, which employs 2.1 million people and has a market value of about $740 billion, said it was already reviewing some of its DEI policies before talks with Starbuck. The company said: “We are determined to change together with our partners and customers representing all of America.”
John Furner, president and CEO of Walmart US, spoke about the policy changes during an interview with CBS News, saying: “Like many companies across the United States, we’ve had a journey and we’re still on a journey. And what we’re trying to do is make sure that every customer, every person they interact with, feels welcome here to shop, and feel like they belong.”
In October, Walmart reported that last fiscal year it received more than $13 billion in goods and services from a variety of suppliers, including companies owned or operated by veterans, people with disabilities, members of the LGBT community, women, and people of color. The retailer’s latest culture and diversity report showed that people of color represent about 51% of the entire US workforce, with 59% of new hires being people of color and 49% women.
The company’s decision raised different opinions. While conservative activists like Starbuck applauded the move toward “corporate neutrality,” others criticized Walmart for undermining diversity and inclusion efforts. Users of Bluesky, an anti-X social media platform, described Walmart as “disgusting” and “cowardly” following the announcement.
Walmart now faces the challenge of balancing the demands of different stakeholder groups, as it risks losing customers who support DEI programs while trying to appease those who oppose it.
