Civil rights activists call for a Target boycott after retailer backs away from diversity programs

Civil rights activists gathered outside the headquarters of Target Corp. on Thursday to call for a national boycott of the retailing giant over its decision to phase out its diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.

Target announced last Friday that it would join competitor Walmart and a number of other prominent American brands in scaling back their DEI initiatives, which have come under attack from conservatives and the new White House of President Donald Trump.

Nekima Levy Armstrong, a veteran civil rights lawyer in Minneapolis and founder of the Racial Justice Network, joined other local activists and their supporters at a news conference to urge people to begin the boycott on Saturday, the first day of Black History Month. Many of the participants were regular Target shoppers until now, she said.

Levy Armstrong said they were “stunned” that Target, which increased its commitment to building a more diverse workforce in the aftermath of the police killing of George Floyd, a Black man, in Minneapolis in 2020, backed away from its support of racial equity.

“We thought that they would hold the line. We thought that they would continue to stand for the values that we all hold dear,” she said. “But instead they acted cowardly, and they made the decision to bow down to the Trump administration. Well, we are here today saying we will not bow down. We will not step back, and we will not turn around.”

Jaylani Hussein, executive director of the Minnesota chapter of the Council on Islamic-American Relations, said that as a company based in the city where Floyd’s murder sparked a national reckoning with racial injustice, Target must be called out.

“We here in Minneapolis today, the good people of the state, are saying to our friends all over the country, ‘If you were moved to do something good after the murder of George Floyd, it is time for you to stand up and boycott Target,’” Hussein said.

The organizers of the boycott include local Black Lives Matter groups. During the boycott announcement, some speakers cut up their distinctive red Target charge cards, while others called on DEI supporters to shop at Costco, which reaffirmed its commitment to DEI last week.

Despite the anger with Target, the news conference-turned-rally took on a festive atmosphere, with a New Orleans-style brass band playing protest songs like Bob Marley’s “Get Up, Stand Up.” Participants circled up for a prayer before the speeches began.

Target, which long was viewed as a strong advocate for the rights of Black and LGBTQ+ people, did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday on the call for a boycott. But in a memo to employees last week, Kiera Fernandez, Target’s chief community impact and equity officer, described the company’s decision to retire its diversity goals as a “next chapter” in the company’s human resource and customer engagement strategy.

“And as a retailer that serves millions of consumers every day, we understand the importance of staying in step with the evolving external landscape, now and in the future,” she wrote.

Levy Armstrong said Target has not reached out to her or other local Black leaders. She said they expected more from Target, and now feel like everything it had done in support of people of color was just window dressing. The starting point for any conversation, she said, would be for the company reverse its decision immediately.

“Target knows what its presence and its commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion means to this community,” Levy Armstrong said. “So that is why we are focusing on Target first. But that does not mean that those other businesses should not also be held accountable. All of those businesses should be held accountable, and they should not have access to our dollars.”

Speakers also called on long-established civil rights groups that have benefited from Target’s philanthropy, such as the NAACP and the Urban League, to join the opposition to Target’s decision. Levy Armstrong and Hussein said they plan to partner with other national organizations to get the word out about the boycott and to take other steps they were not yet ready to share publicly.

Ever since calls for a boycott began circulating on social media, the founders of several Black-owned businesses that sell their products in Target stores or through the company’s online platforms have expressed concern that a broad boycott might hurt them. They included the owners of hair care brands The Doux and Camille Rose, and the cosmetics brand Lip Bar.

The Minneapolis organizers said Black consumers and their white allies can continue to support those companies while cutting Target out.

“We are asking people to go on their websites and buy directly from those Black companies, because Target will not see a single one of our Black dollars,” Levy Armstrong said.