DEI

Target’s decision to scale back its diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives has sparked a nationwide backlash that is taking a visible toll on the retailer — so much so that the head of Target recently sat down with Al Sharpton to see how he could right the sinking ship.

As we mark President Trump’s first 100 days in office, it’s hard to decide where to begin to assess the damage he has done to the nation.

Last week, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People’s Legal Defense Fund sued the United States Department of Education. Rushing to defend diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programming, the NAACP’s lawyers may find themselves on rocky rhetorical terrain: Convincing a federal judge that the nation’s foundation is fundamentally flawed.

Back in January, President Trump issued an executive order directing federal agencies to ensure that organizations receiving federal grants certify that they “do not operate any programs promoting DEI,” making clear that the president considers diversity, equity and inclusion programs to be illegal and immoral.

The Trump administration harbors the warped and unreal view that the only discrimination that persists in American society afflicts white people (because of DEI efforts), girls and women who play interscholastic sports (against transgender athletes), and Jewish students (because of campus protests against the war in Gaza).

Grassroots boycotts are proving their power on Target’s balance sheet. On a March 4 quarterly earnings call, Target reported that net sales declined 3.1%. Target sales are declining, and so is its reputation.

I have always been curious about African American history because when I was growing up, the inquisitive kid that I was, there was no mention in my textbooks that we as a people individually or collectively contributed to anything.

As we enter this Black History Month, we find ourselves in a moment of sharp contrast. In the morning, we celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his “I Have a Dream” speech — a call for racial equity and unity. By midafternoon, President Trump has already reversed as much racial progress as possible within his first hours back in office, making it clear where his priorities lie.

The election of Donald Trump has, as expected, put diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in the crosshairs. By executive order, signed the day of his inauguration, Trump has mandated the “termination” of “diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) mandates, policies, programs, preferences and activities in the Federal Government.”

Black buying power in America is expected to surge to $1.98 trillion in 2025, according to the Selig Center for Economic Growth. Strategically leveraged, that economic clout can wield enormous power over companies that are bending the knee to Trump’s mischaracterization of DEI.

Ayanna Lott-Pollard took the reins of the nonprofit organization Resilient Coders from longtime leader David Delmar Sentíes in 2022. And the past two years were, to use her words, “a whirlwind.”

Among a spate of executive actions signed on his first day in office, Trump signed one order ending “illegal DEI and ‘diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility’ (DEIA) mandates, policies, programs, preferences, and activities in the Federal Government, under whatever name they appear.”