• by Danielle Oster , September 24, 2024

Over the course of the last several months, a number of companies have capitulated to demands from the far right and ended or “altered” DEI policies and programs, partnerships with civil rights organizations, and long-standing event sponsorships – including Ford, Harley-Davidson, John Deere, Lowe’s, and Tractor Supply.

Last week, 20 civil rights organizations responded in the form of an open letter to Fortune 1000 companies, with a clear message: Enough is enough.

“Put simply, hastily abandoning efforts that ensure fair, safe, and inclusive work environments is bad for business, unpopular and unwise,” one section states. “As business leaders who helped to build DEI programs, you know it's good business, and we have the receipts that show it.”

Groups signing the letter, entitled “Collective Statement to Fortune 1000 CEOs to Defend Values of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion,” include the American Association of People with Disabilities, Asian Americans Advancing Justice, the Human Rights Campaign, the NAACP and the National Women’s Law Center, among others.

The letter was sent to leaders at the Fortune 1000 companies, as well as being published across channels owned by the organizations involved, including the Human Rights Campaign's website.

The recent wave of attacks on corporate DEI polices have largely been fueled by far-right media figure Robby Starbuck. A former music video director and failed GOP congressional candidate in Tennessee, Starbuck pivoted to attacks on companies over DEI and Pride event sponsorship after  publishing on X an anti-trans disinformation film he co-directed earlier this year.

Notably, the letter from civil rights organizations calls out the business risks inherent in capitulating to “extremists” and abandoning DEI efforts, characterizing such decisions as “short-sighted” and a fiduciary failure to investors.

In fact, the letter further notes, “Businesses that fail to include women, people of color, people with disabilities, and LGBTQ+ people neglect their financial duty to recruit and retain top talent from across the full talent pool and limit their company's performance overall."

The letter also cites a survey of top companies that found better business performance among those in the top quartile for gender and ethnic diversity, along with further data demonstrating that such decisions are unpopular with employees who broadly support DEI efforts.

“Companies in the bottom quartile of executive diversity on gender and ethnicity underperform all other companies by 27%,” the letter further notes, citing a McKinsey & Company report.

The letter concludes by calling on “business leaders and corporate board members to lead,” by publicly and unequivocally defending the values of diversity, equity, and inclusion from attacks by “politically motivated, anti-business forces."

It also notes the safety risks inherent in such attacks on brands, given their potential to spark violence. Target cited threats to employee safety when customers began harassing  employees and destroying property after absorbing hateful disinformation on the store’s Pride Month collection in 2023.

“We welcome your partnership and understand the safety risks posed by bad actors are serious,” the letter notes. Abandoning long-standing commitments to DEI values “only serves to empower those who threaten your workers and customers.”