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    • Walmart is the latest major company to roll back DEI policies amid conservative backlash
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    Walmart is the latest major company to roll back DEI policies amid conservative backlash

    Vaseline Posted on

    Topline

    Walmart will scale back some of its diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, becoming the latest major company to pull back on its inclusivity efforts under pressure from conservative activists.

    Key facts

    Walmart confirmed to several media outlets, including Bloomberg and the Associated Press, that it is making major changes — including no longer prioritizing suppliers based on race and gender, ending racial equity training for employees and leaving the LGBTQ rights group Human . Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index.

    The supposed changes were first announced on Holiday shopping season.

    Starbuck claimed he had “productive conversations” with executives at Walmart who promised to make these changes.

    The company confirmed to Bloomberg that it had had discussions with Starbuck, but claimed it was already reviewing its DEI efforts prior to that.

    In addition to changes to its DEI policy, Walmart has also agreed to monitor its online marketplace for offerings from third-party sellers, which Starbuck describes as “sexual and/or transgender products marketed to children,” and to remove them as appropriate to delete.

    The company also told AP that it plans to review subsidies for Pride events to ensure it “does not financially support sexualized content that may be inappropriate for children.”

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    Crucial quote

    In his post, Starbuck noted: “I have to give their executives a lot of credit because this will send shockwaves through corporate America. This is the biggest victory yet for our movement to end wokeness in corporate America.”

    Tangent

    Billionaire Elon Musk — who himself is an outspoken critic of DEI initiatives and has previously reshared and commented on Starbuck’s posts — praised the conservative pundit’s latest announcement. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who has also been picked by President-elect Trump to be the next U.S. ambassador to Israel, also praised Starbuck, calling him “arguably the most influential person in America to bring our culture and country back to health.” makes.”

    Important background

    Starbuck, who has more than 700,000 followers on X, has emerged as one of the most prominent conservative figures targeting companies through DEI initiatives. Starbuck scored its first big win earlier this year after its online campaign against Tractor Supply’s DEI policy forced the retailer to change course. At the time, the company announced it would stop sponsoring pride events, stop submitting data to the Human Rights Campaign and withdraw its carbon emissions targets. Buoyed by the win, Starbuck would go on to target several other major companies, including Ford, Lowe’s and Harley Davison, all of which have since also rolled back their DEI measures.

    Big number

    1.6 million. That’s the total number of employees Walmart hires in the U.S., according to its website. This makes it the largest US company to date to roll back its DEI initiatives.

    What to pay attention to

    The right-wing pundit indicated in X-post that he was not done attacking companies, especially large retailers. Starbuck wrote: “Companies like Amazon and Target should be very nervous that their top competitor was the first to drop the woke policy. “I think Target in particular will have serious sales problems and Walmart will benefit.”

    Read more

    Walmart, the World’s Largest Retailer, Will Curb Diversity Efforts (Bloomberg)

    The Anti-DEI Agitator Big Companies Fear Most (New York Times)

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