Major retailers publicly touted the end of their diversity, equity and inclusion policies to appease President Trump – but they’ve been holding on to some of the controversial programs behind the scenes, according to a report.
Tractor Supply, Target and Amazon have been making quiet promises to continue their diversity initiatives, according to a Reuters report based on more than a dozen interviews, as US Attorney General Pam Bondi threatens to prosecute private firms with “illegal DEI” programs following Trump’s executive orders.
Companies are “trying to thread the needle – stay true to corporate values, satisfy various stakeholders, but reduce legal risk,” Jason Schwartz, an employment law partner at Gibson Dunn who advises clients on DEI policies, told Reuters.
Tractor Supply, a farm equipment retailer, was one of the first American firms to kill its diversity and carbon emissions goals in June 2024, facing the threat of a boycott from its largely red-state consumer base.
The company also cut ties with the Human Rights Campaign and pledged to stop funding LGTBQ+ Pride festivals.
Instead, Tractor Supply said it would beef up its support for veteran causes, emergency response agencies, animal shelters, state fairs, rodeos and farmers’ markets.
But Keayana Robinson, the contractor who led the diversity data collection at Tractor Supply, told Reuters the farm supply retailer offered to keep her on at the company in an undefined role that would be “as closely aligned as possible” to the DEI work she had been doing.
Managers assured her that Tractor Supply would continue its DEI initiatives behind the scenes, including its resource groups for underrepresented employees, she said.
“I don’t want to work for an organization that wants to hide me,” she told Reuters.
Tractor Supply did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.
In January, just days after Trump took office, Target said it was ending its diversity goals and canceling reports to the Human Rights Campaign – a stark reversal for a retailer so progressive it faced heated backlash in 2023 for selling Pride-themed kids clothing.
Sharon Smith-Akinsanya, chief executive of Minneapolis-based consulting group Rae Mackenzie Group, said she met with Target executives, including CEO Brian Cornell, soon after the Minneapolis-based chain revoked its policies.
She told Reuters the meetings reassured her that Target – which has apparently long sponsored her career events for people of color – would continue its commitment to diversity.
“I believe the Target DNA we have come to love remains intact,” Smith-Akinsanya told Reuters, adding that she understands the political threats companies are facing.
Andi Otto, executive director of Twin Cities Pride, said Target representatives called him to say their inclusivity efforts would not change.
Despite the phone call, he said his LGBTQ+ non-profit refused a $50,000 sponsorship from Target after nearly two decades of partnership because of its public pledge to revoke its diversity goals, and for cutting down its Pride collection following its 2023 scandal.
Target did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.
Amazon, meanwhile, removed a reference to diversity and inclusion from its annual filing in February. The move came weeks after it told employees in a memo that it was winding down diversity efforts.
Sheletta Brundidge, a contributing columnist at The Minnesota Star Tribune who is organizing a Black Entrepreneurs Day, told Reuters that an Amazon representative tried to downplay changes to the company’s diversity goals during a phone call.
On its website, Amazon said it remains “committed to building a workforce and culture that reflects the communities we serve.”
Amazon declined to comment.
