Lowe’s Cos. is scaling back its diversity, equity and inclusion programs, the latest American company to end such initiatives following a series of activists attacks on firms that promote DEI.
The home-improvement retailer will no longer participate in surveys for LGBTQ advocacy group the Human Rights Campaign, and will also combine its various business resource groups that represent diverse employees into one umbrella organization, it said in an internal note.
It’ll also focus on sponsoring events related to safe and affordable housing, disaster relief and skilled trades education, and will not participate in community events outside of this remit, according to the note, which was seen by Bloomberg News and confirmed by a Lowe’s spokesman.
US corporations have been facing pressure to curtail programs they adopted following the murder of George Floyd by a White policeman in 2020 and an ensuing racial reckoning. A Supreme Court decision last year banning affirmative action at universities has emboldened opponents of DEI programs, invigorating legal activists including Edward Blum and former Donald Trump staffer Stephen Miller, who’ve filed lawsuits and issued complaints to the US government around corporate hiring that they say unfairly favors non-White workers.
Robby Starbuck, whose calls to boycott several firms that promote DEI have led to those companies cutting back or eliminating diversity programs, claims credit for the move by Lowe’s. The company changed its DEI policy after Starbuck reached out to the firm last week, he said on X.
Lowe’s spokesman Steve Salazar said Starbuck reached out after the company had already begun making changes to its DEI program.
Lowe’s had eight business resource groups as of 2021, according to its latest diversity report. They include groups for Black, Latino, Asia Pacific, LGBTQ and women associates. The report also said it was voted the “best place to work for LGBTQ equality” by the Human Rights Campaign and saw an 11% increase in people of color among its domestic officers.
Tractor Supply Co., Deere & Co. and Harley-Davidson Inc. all said they would significantly curtail DEI activities after Starbuck began campaigning against them in recent months. Jack Daniel’s whiskey maker Brown-Forman Co. last week also told staff it was ending DEI programs. Starbuck said he had been preparing to go after the company.
Photo: Photographer: Yuki Iwamura/Bloomberg
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