(The Hill) – The NAACP is urging Black Americans to refrain from shopping at retailers that have stepped back from diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs.
The nation’s oldest civil rights organization released its Black Consumer Advisory, a project intended to help educate Black Americans on “who’s pushing progress and who’s stuck in the past.”
The advisory lists companies that have recommitted to DEI in recent weeks – such as Delta Airlines, Apple and Ben & Jerry’s – while also highlighting major corporations that have dismantled their programs.
“While companies backtrack on diversity, equity, and inclusion commitments, the @NAACP ’s Black Consumer Advisory is designed to leverage the $1.7 trillion spending power of the Black community to hold corporations accountable to #DEI and social justice,” Derrick Johnson, president and CEO of the NAACP, wrote on social media.
“We have the power to choose where we spend our money. I am confident that this framework will support our community as we make difficult decisions on where to spend our hard-earned money.”
The project comes as corporations and the federal government have rolled back DEI policies under the Trump administration.
Just days after his inauguration, President Trump signed an executive order directing federal agencies to end “illegal preferences and discrimination” in government and help find ways to “encourage the private sector to end illegal discrimination and preferences, including DEI.”
Despite backlash from civil rights organizations, companies including McDonalds, Target, Walmart, Amazon and Tractor Supply have all ended or rolled back their DEI promises, many made in the wake of social unrest in 2020.
In its advisory, the NAACP argues the rollbacks “reinforce historical barriers to progress under the guise of protecting “meritocracy.’”
”Many corporations continue to profit from Black dollars while simultaneously undermining commitments of diversity, equity, and inclusion,” the advisory said. “These rollbacks not only harm Black communities, professionals, and entrepreneurs but also erode the progress made toward creating equitable economic and social systems.”
The advisory calls for Black Americans to support businesses and organizations that maintain and even expand DEI commitments and prioritize investment in Black communities; support Black-owned businesses; and call out corporations that have abandoned DEI initiatives and demand transparency in their practices.
“We’re done with empty, and broken promises,” Keisha Bross, NAACP’s director of opportunity, race and justice, said in a statement. “This is a call for corporations and individuals to buy in to the values and principles that reflect our interests.”
