Deere’s changes reflect the increasing pressure faced by companies to scale back or do away with diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives from both external critics and U.S. courts as a wave of legal action challenges policies at scores of companies, including giants such as Starbucks, Meta and Pfizer.
It’s also another high-profile instance of corporate stances on social issues creating tension with customers. Deere and Tractor Supply’s changes come barely a year after a boycott of Bud Light over its partnership with transgender influencer and actress Dylan Mulvaney. Target also dealt with a boycott and in-store confrontations over Pride Month merchandise last year, prompting the company to pull back its collection from storefronts and remove some merchandise altogether.
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Deere & Co. did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The company didn’t disavow DEI entirely: In its statement Tuesday, Deere said it would “continue to track and advance the diversity of our organization” because doing so helps meet customer needs. Its website still touts “our inclusive culture.”
Deere’s changes come after public pressure from Robby Starbuck, the conservative podcast host who orchestrated a boycott of Tractor Supply over its diversity policies late last month.
Tractor Supply responded by cutting diversity roles and vowing to stop submitting data to the Human Rights Campaign, an LGBTQ+ advocacy group, and to stop sponsoring Pride festivals and voting initiatives. Its move was met with celebration from conservative activists and consternation from others, including a New York animal sanctuary, LGBTQ+ organizations and an association that aims to support Black farmers.
John Boyd Jr., founder of the National Black Farmers Association, told The Washington Post on Wednesday that his group would call for a boycott of Deere and the resignation of its CEO, John C. May. It did the same in response to Tractor Supply’s backtrack.
“We will continue to see more companies downplay diversity goals and scale back DEI programs created to encourage the advancement of marginalized groups,” Boyd said in an emailed statement.
Earlier in July, Starbuck posted a video criticizing a slate of DEI initiatives at Deere, including its creation of “LGBTQ and race based” employee-resource groups, as well as employee training featuring anti-racist teachings from writers such as Robin DiAngelo and Ibram X. Kendi. After Deere’s announcement, he posted on X that the changes hadn’t gone far enough, saying he wanted the company to end DEI “entirely” and stop participating in the Human Rights Campaign’s corporate equality index. Starbuck added that he would continue to speak out against corporate DEI efforts.
“DEI is poison and we won’t rest until the public knows how companies have strayed from American values,” Starbuck wrote.
Starbuck did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Post.
Eric Bloem, the Human Rights Campaign’s vice president of programs and corporate advocacy, called Deere’s moves on DEI “disappointing” in a statement emailed to The Post. But he attributed the company’s changes to “a coordinated attack by far-right extremists on American business.”
“Decisions to cut DEI initiatives risk alienating customers and employees to appease extremists who care about neither,” Bloem said, adding that “decisions to abandon values of diversity and inclusion are detrimental to any company’s bottom line and the American economy writ large.”
The decision comes a month after Deere entered into an agreement with the Department of Labor to resolve charges of “systemic hiring discrimination against Black and Hispanic applicants” at production facilities in Iowa and Illinois. The company, which works as a contractor with federal agencies, agreed to pay more than $1 million in back wages and interest to impacted job applicants and offer dozens of jobs to eligible candidates.
As part of the agreement, the Moline, Ill.-based company must also “evaluate its personnel practices, including its recordkeeping and internal auditing procedures,” the DOL said in a press release.
DEI encompasses a wide range of practices that advocates describe as ways to diversify companies, schools and organizations and ensure equal access to opportunity. It includes efforts such as recruiting and mentorship programs geared toward underrepresented groups, anti-bias training and employee resource groups.
Most organizations see tackling issues of diversity and equity in their ranks as “critical to their long-term success” according to Cristina Jimenez, global head of diversity, inclusion and belonging at RHR International. But they’re also facing “external pressure to align with what may be seen as neutrality or just avoidance” when it comes to DEI, she said.
The growing threat of customer pushback, along with the broader tensions surrounding DEI, “may push organizations to think about their approach, shift a strategy or simply spend time asking themselves if they are focused on the right things,” Jimenez added.
Critics of DEI programs say preferences based on race and gender are themselves discriminatory. Dozens of lawsuits challenging DEI policies in schools, government and corporations are percolating through courts across the country, and Republican-led state legislatures are considering scores of anti-DEI bills.
As clouds have gathered around DEI, some high-profile companies are making changes. In recent weeks, Microsoft eliminated a DEI team because of “changing business needs,” according to reporting from Business Insider. Other giants such as Tesla, X, Meta and Zoom have gotten rid of DEI roles as the climate around the work has shifted.
“True systems-change work associated with DEI programs everywhere are no longer business critical or smart as they were in 2020,” a leader of the Microsoft team wrote in an email sent to thousands of employees, Business Insider reported.
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