---Free to Distribute On Your Media Platforms---
Dr. Jamal Bryant, the influential pastor of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Atlanta, joins other “faith” leaders in a call to boycott Target. Bryant called for a 40-day boycott of the retailer. What is his outrage? He and many of those who follow him are outraged at Target’s recent decision to phase out its diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. He is asking 100,000 people to take their money to other stores and protest against Target for what he believes is their abandonment of its commitment to Black businesses and consumers.
I want to know where all this outrage from Christian leaders was when Target stocked LGBTQ-themed clothing for children? I do not recall seeing petitions and demands from these Bible-believing faith leaders when Target had its sights trained squarely on one of our most vulnerable populations, our children. Target, with T-shirts, hats, jackets and pants, encouraged them to embrace the anti-biblical concept of gender ideology. They are children. If Bryant and his followers are so concerned about protecting vulnerable communities, why were they silent when it came to shielding children from corporate activism?
We should all understand what Target’s decision to phase out DEI initiatives really means. It does not mean Black businesses will suddenly be shut out. It does not mean companies committed to diversity will cease to exist. What it does mean is that hiring, promotions and business partnerships will be determined by merit, not by an arbitrary quota system that has not had a sweeping impact on decreasing the wealth gap between Black and white Americans.
The uncomfortable truth about efforts at diversity is that Black people get the shaft. Affirmative action, America’s greatest modern effort to level the playing field, did more to benefit white women than Black people. Following the same pattern, Black Americans are not the greatest benefactors of DEI. DEI is doing more to advance a transgender agenda than to help Black people, period.
Once again, Black people are being hoodwinked by the system. A significant change that I can see to Target's DEI policy is that it has decided to stop participating in the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index. That index doesn’t say anything about how Black businesses are doing. It does, however, measure how lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer communities are doing. Corporations are judged on measurements like whether they provide “gender transition guidelines,” have “at least five distinct LGBTQ+ efforts of outreach or engagement,” and have LGBTQ+ training in “intersectionality.”
HRC is a powerful force in politics, business and culture. It has forced major industries to not only accept its radical agenda but to also champion it. At last, corporations have been given the freedom to push back. HRC realizes a better face for its movement at this moment is Black people. So here we go again, marching for the diversity box to be filled by others.
The backlash against Target’s decision suggests that economic equality for Black businesses is impossible without DEI policies. That is an insult. Black entrepreneurs have built and sustained businesses for generations without corporate handouts. The argument that without DEI, Black businesses cannot succeed is the kind of paternalistic mindset that has kept many in our communities dependent on outside validation rather than self-sufficiency.
The power to uplift our communities does not come from corporate quotas—it comes from our own pockets. The backlash against DEI is not a rejection of diversity—it is a rejection of performative corporate activism that has done little to produce real, lasting economic empowerment.
Bryant and those joining this boycott need to ask themselves a hard question. If Target’s DEI rollback is worthy of this level of outrage, why wasn’t the company’s earlier social activism met with the same resistance? The answer may be uncomfortable, but it is one worth confronting.
---
SUPPORT COMMON SENSE MEDIA
BPALiveWire is not in the pocket of corporate media. We are beholding to our readers and the truth. If you believe it is important to share African American free market, limited government voices in the media, support our work with a one-time or recurring contribution.
Comments