• by Sarah Mahoney  @mahoney_sarah, November 26, 2024

 Walmart is giving up on its $100 million Center for Racial Equity, launched in 2020.

The conservative anti-woke crowd is claiming another victory, with Walmart the latest to bail out of diversity commitments.

On June 5, 2020, Doug McMillon, Walmart's chief executive officer, made an announcement that was staggering in both its honesty and scope. The largest company in the world -- and the largest private employer in the U.S. -- didn’t just own up to playing a part in systemic racism, promising to do better for its 340,000 Black and African American employees. The announcement, made less than two weeks after the murder of George Floyd ignited racial tensions around the world, included $100 million in funding for the new Center for Racial Equity, backed by both Walmart and the Walmart Foundation.

Now, the retailer is the latest to scrap many DEI efforts. Walmart also confirms it is prohibiting the sale of LGBTQ-themed products aimed at children on its website and dropping out of the Corporate Equality Index, which measures progress on LGBTQ+ workplace inclusion.

Walmart joins a long and growing list of large companies that have similarly disavowed DEI efforts, including Tractor Supply, Coors, Lowe’s, John Deere and Harley Davidson. Those companies, primarily American brands, have a consumer base that includes many older white Americans. However, global companies like Boeing, Toyota, Ford, and now Walmart have increasingly piled on the trend.

The company says that instead, it will focus on inclusion in different ways. “Our purpose, to help people save money and live better, has been at our core since our founding 62 years ago and continues to guide us today,” Walmart said in a statement emailed to Marketing Daily. “We can deliver on it because we are willing to change alongside our associates and customers representing all of America. We’ve been on a journey and know we aren’t perfect, but every decision comes from a place of wanting to foster a sense of belonging, to open doors to opportunities for all our associates, customers and suppliers and to be a Walmart for everyone.”

Robby Starbuck, a conservative activist, claimed credit for the victory. “MASSIVE news,” he said in a statement on X. “This is the biggest win yet for our movement to end wokeness in corporate America.”

Starbuck says he told Walmart execs last week he was readying a piece on Walmart's “wokeness” and that the company responded with promises to end funding to the Racial Equity Center, drop out of HRC’s Corporate Equality Index, reevaluate grants related to LGBTQ Pride efforts, and make a commitment to end racial equity training.

The Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s Corporate Equality Index benchmarks how well companies are doing on policies related to LGBTQ+ workplace equity.

The Index, first started in 2002, has led to “immense progress, from family formation benefits to safeguarding against blatant discrimination at all levels of the workplace,” says RaShawn "Shawnie" Hawkins, senior director of HRC Foundation’s Workplace Equality Program, in a statement emailed to Marketing Daily. “When companies are transparent and open about their commitment to workplace inclusion policies, it only helps to attract and retain top talent – which is why the 2025 CEI will have record participation from more than 1,400 companies.”

The organization also says that 30% of Gen Z identify as LGBTQ+ and that the community holds $1.4 trillion in spending power. “Commitments to inclusion are directly tied to long-term business growth. Those who abandon these commitments are shirking their responsibility to their employees, consumers, and shareholders,” Hawkins said.

Presumably, Walmart and other companies think the potential harm from a conservative backlash will be more punishing than pushback from people of color, LGBTQ+ audiences and climate activists.

While it’s too soon to tell, 2023 research from the Association of National Advertisers suggests Walmart and others may regret their decisions. If a brand backtracks on support for social causes, 77% of consumers would either immediately stop purchasing or look to buy other brands more supportive of their views. And almost as many (76%) say they will not return to that brand unless it changes its practices.

That survey included 9,000 consumers.