Several civil rights organizations wrote a letter to the CEOs of major corporations pleading with them to keep their diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs alive amid pressure from online critics and litigation threats, Associated Press reports.
The letter was sent on Sept. 19 and signed by 19 organizations calling for the leaders of Fortune 1000 corporations to stay committed to DEI initiatives, claiming those that don’t risk shirking their trust and responsibility to employees, consumers, and shareholders. “Diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, policies, and practices make business sense, and they’re broadly popular among the public, consumers, and employees,” the letter read.
“But a small, well-funded, and extreme group of right-wing activists is attempting to pressure companies into abandoning their DEI programs.”
Groups taking a stand include the NAACP, the National Organization for Women, the League of United Latin American Citizens, Asian Americans Advancing Justice, and the Human Rights Campaign Foundation. Their words target companies such as Ford Motors, John Deere, and Harley-Davidson, which recently announced they would pull back on DEI policies following pressure from conservative activists.
In August 2024, Harley-Davidson announced they trashed their policy in April 2024, claiming the company no longer has “hiring quotas” or a “supplier diversity spend goal.” However, in a statement, they said they are committed to listening to their company base. “We remain committed to listening to all members of our community as we continue on our journey together as the most desirable motorcycle brand in the world,” the statement read.
Black business owners have openly expressed concerns about how that lack of policies will affect their businesses
; some highlighted the Fearless Fund. The funds, geared toward Black women entrepreneurs, faced a lawsuit by a conservative group, claiming its $20K grant contest to support Black women entrepreneurs was “discriminatory.” Tech CEO Barbara Jones-Brown feels the lawsuits are strategic. “There are grant programs that are giving people $100,000, $200,000, and $500,000. They were giving [$20,000], and they get attacked,” Jones-Brown said.“It’s all calculated. All of this stuff is strategic…They know exactly what they’re doing to dismantle all of this.”
The organizations who published the letter share similar sentiments. According to CNBC, Human Rights Campaign President Kelley Robinsons, the corporations cutting DEI are only hurting themselves. She expressed how LGBTQ+ consumers have $1.4 trillion of buying power and that moving away from DEI is the “wrong decision for business.” “Consumers are two times more likely to want to buy from brands that support the community,” she said.
“This is, bottom line, the best thing to do for businesses, and that’s why I think that we’re seeing so much energy from employees, from consumers, and from shareholders starting to push back on these decisions.”
The groups also claimed companies rolling back DEI commitments are cutting their Corporate Equality Index scores by 25 points. On a 100-point scale, Brown-Forman, Molson Coors, and Ford went from a perfect score of 100 to 75. Tractor Supply & John Deere dropped from 95 to 70, and Harley-Davidson’s took a massive hit, from 45 to 20.
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