John Deere, one of America’s preeminent farm equipment manufacturers, announced on July 16 that it was discontinuing participation in any diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
According to USA Today, the company is reassessing its internal policies and initiatives and said in a statement that its decision is an attempt to ensure that its customers maintain trust and confidence in the company.
“We will no longer participate in or support external social or cultural awareness parades, festivals, or events,” the statement read.
The statement also said that John Deere would be completing audits of its company policy, saying that it would be “auditing all company-mandated training materials and policies to ensure
the absence of socially motivated messages,” as well as “reaffirming within the business that the existence of diversity quotas and pronoun identification have never been and are not company policy.”John Deere’s sharp pivot seems to be driven by online criticism directed at the company from conservative activist Bobby Starbuck, who accused the company of funding Pride events for children, encouraging its employees to list their pronouns, and having employee resource groups for people of color and LGBTQ+ individuals.
According to USA Today, Starbuck’s social media campaign is also responsible for the similar pivot of Tractor Supply Company in June, but the two company’s moves are outliers compared to a survey from the Association of Corporate Citizenship Professionals and YourCause from Blackbaud.
In that survey, 96% of corporate social impact professionals across 125 major companies reported that 83% of DEI commitments remained the same and 13% increased. The association’s president, Carolyn Berkowitz, told the outlet that the survey is a “clear signal” that despite conservative actions, corporate support for DEI has not weakened.
Joelle Emerson, the co-founder and CEO of Paradigm, told USA Today in May that while companies have changed their approach to pursuing DEI, their support for these programs remains unchanged.
“While the anti-diversity rhetoric has had an overall chilling effect and certainly gave companies who never really valued diversity, equity, and inclusion cover to pull back on their efforts, we’re actually seeing most companies are continuing their work, just less vocally.”
John Boyd Jr., the founder of the National Black Farmers Association, told The Washington Post via an emailed statement that like it did with Tractor Supply, the association would be calling for a boycott of John Deere and the resignation of its CEO, John C. May.
“We will continue to see more companies downplay diversity goals and scale back DEI programs created to encourage the advancement of marginalized groups,” Boyd said.
Eric Bloem, the vice president of the Human Rights Campaign’s programs and corporate advocacy department, told the outlet that he was disappointed by John Deere’s decision.
“Decisions to cut DEI initiatives risk alienating customers and employees to appease extremists who care about neither,” Bloem said, before adding, “decisions to abandon values of diversity and inclusion are detrimental to any company’s bottom line and the American economy writ large.”
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