This week, many consumers plan to make their voices heard by voting with their wallets as activists rally for a boycott of major retailers like Walmart, Target, and Amazon. The protest comes in response to these companies scaling back their diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs following President Donald Trump's actions to eliminate federal DEI policies. Activists urge consumers to refrain from shopping at these retailers as a statement against what they see as a corporate retreat from promoting diversity in favor of Trump’s policies.
Organized by The People’s Union USA, the group is encouraging a 24-hour economic blackout to protest Trump’s rollback of DEI programs and corporate greed, rising prices, and low wages while these companies report record profits.
A social media post from “theonecalledjadi,” who spoke on behalf of The People’s Union USA, highlighted the boycott. His post has already generated more than six million views and 275,000 likes, which reads, “The economy does not belong to the rich; it belongs to us.”
Meanwhile, the organization Until Freedom also urges consumers to boycott Target in response to its rollback of DEI initiatives. However, these activists call for a longer-term boycott, asking people to refrain from shopping at the retailer beyond February 28 and continue indefinitely until Target reverses its actions.
“When companies like Target decide to eliminate initiatives focused on carrying products from Black or other minority-owned businesses, they’re testing us," the group wrote on social media.
Actress Leslie Jones announced on social media that she is organizing her own planned boycotts starting in February and continuing through the end of the year. In her post, she outlined a strategy that begins by advocating for consumers to support Black-owned businesses.
This comes as big-name companies have decided to do away with their woke DEI initiatives.
Walmart removed an annual benchmark index from an LGBTQ+ advocacy group, the Human Rights Campaign, while Ford Motor Co. announced it would no longer use quotas for minority dealerships and suppliers.
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