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Lian Kit Wee
- Ford is pulling back its DEI programs, amid backlash from a conservative activist.
- Robby Starbuck has led social media campaigns against companies for their DEI practices.
- Other companies that withdrew or toned down their DEI initiatives include Lowe's and Harley-Davidson.
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Carmaker Ford is the latest company to back down from diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday.
Many of these campaigns have been led by Robby Starbuck, a prominent conservative activist with a sizable social media following. He argues that these initiatives do not align with the values of companies' largely conservative consumer bases.
The move away from DEI policies is part of an ongoing wave of backlash against diversity programs at American companies. Tech companies such as Microsoft, Meta, and Zoom recently cut DEI programs this year, Business Insider reported in July, and law firms, including Winston & Strawn, faced lawsuits for affirmative action.
While activists like Starbuck are loudly criticizing companies and other groups, 61% of Americans support DEI practices, according to a Washington Post-Ipsos poll in April.
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Starbuck told Bloomberg in August that he'd like to see the elimination of DEI practices and to "bring back a sense of neutrality and sanity" to American corporations. He did not respond to BI's request for comment.
The Human Rights Campaign slammed companies' DEI rollbacks in an August statement to BI.
"Decisions to cut DEI initiatives send a clear signal to employees that their employers simply don't care about equality in the workplace. Putting politics ahead of workers and consumers only hurts the same folks that these businesses rely on," wrote Eric Bloem, the nonprofit group's vice president of programs and corporate advocacy.
Here are how some companies have cut their DEI programs following Starbuck's campaigns:
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Harley-Davidson
Last week, Harley-Davidson said on X that it would drop diversity-based spending goals from suppliers, halt socially motivated employee training, and withdraw from an annual LGBTQ acceptance rating by the Human Rights Campaign, Bloomberg reported.
Harley told Bloomberg that the company was "saddened by the negativity on social media over the last few weeks, designed to divide the Harley-Davidson community," following Starbuck's calls on X for the company to apologize and change its policies.
Bloem, from the Human Rights Campaign, said in the statement to BI that retreating from DEI hurts employees and customers.
"Harley-Davidson's choice to back away from the Corporate Equality Index is an impulsive decision fueled by fringe right-wing actors and MAGA extremists who believe they can bully their way into dismantling initiatives that help everyone thrive in the workplace," Bloem wrote.
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John Deere
John Deere has pulled back on its DEI commitments, including no longer participating in cultural awareness events and abolishing the company's pronoun policy, BI reported in July.
While John Deere did not publicly announce the reason for its decision, the shift came following online criticism from Starbuck in a video from X, which garnered over 5 million views in July.
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Tractor Supply Company
Tractor Supply significantly scaled back its DEI programs, including eliminating diversity roles and withdrawing from Pride event sponsorship. The company also announced that it would no longer provide data to the Human Rights Campaign, and it would end its carbon emission goals. This came after Starbuck's criticized the company for promoting what he labeled as "woke" policies, NPR reported in June.
Polaris
While Starbuck did not specifically target Polaris, the Harley competitor has reduced its DEI efforts, including removing any mention of the term from its web pages. In a statement to Bloomberg, the company emphasized its intention to abstain from political discussion.
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Lowe's
Home improvement retailer Lowe's said that it would scale back its DEI programs in an internal note viewed by Bloomberg.
Per the memo, the company will stop participating in surveys run by the Human Rights Campaign, and it will merge resource groups for minority employees into one umbrella organization, Bloomberg reported on August 27.
Starbuck said on X that he caused Lowe's policy shift. However, a Lowe's spokesperson told Bloomberg that they had already begun making changes prior to Starbuck's involvement.
Lowe's has a consumer base largely consisting of rural baby boomers, according to data from the consumer analytics firm Numerator.. The company was labeled "best place to work for LGBTQ equality" by the Human Rights Campaign in Lowe's 2021 culture, diversity, and inclusion report.
Orlando Gonzales, the senior vice president of programs of research and training at the Human Rights Campaign, told BI in a statement that scaling back from DEI policies would have negative consequences for companies in the long run.
"Companies should not cower to a random guy with zero business experience," Gonzales said, citing Starbuck's removal from the Tennessee GOP ballot in 2022.
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Ford
In an internal email shared with Bloomberg on Wednesday by Starbuck, the carmaker said that it would pull out of certain diversity rankings, such as the Human Rights Campaign's Corporate Equality Index.
The company also said that it would reorient its employee resource groups to make them accessible to all staff. Ford also pledged to be less involved in political matters and changed some corporate sponsorships.
Ford faced backlash earlier this month after it saw quality issues and vehicle recalls.
Starbuck wrote in a Wednesday post on X that Ford's withdrawal from DEI initiatives came just as he was investigating Ford's "woke policies."
Meanwhile, the HRC said that Ford "cowered" to Starbuck and that the company had "decades of commitment to inclusion and top ratings on the HRC Corporate Equality Index."
"The Human Rights Campaign could not be more disappointed to see the company shirking its responsibility to its employees, consumers, and shareholders," said HRC president Kelley Robinson in a statement.
None of the companies responded to BI's requests for comment.
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