Walmart becomes the latest company to walk back DEI initiatives

• Walmart is scaling back some of its DEI efforts.
• The company was under pressure from anti-DEI activist Robby Starbuck.
• A spokesperson said some of the changes had been in the works for a long time.

Walmart is the latest American company to reverse some of its diversity, equity, and inclusion or DEI initiatives.

Robby Starbuck, an anti-DEI activist, said in an Instagram post Monday that Walmart agreed to a list of changes, including not extending its nonprofit Center for Racial Equity and eliminating the use of the terms “DEI” and “Latinx” from its official communications.

A spokesperson for the company confirmed the changes to Business Insider. They noted several changes had been in the works for a long time.

The company said in a statement it was “willing to change alongside our associates and customers who represent all of America.”

“We’ve been on a journey and know we aren’t perfect, but every decision comes from a place of wanting to foster a sense of belonging, to open doors to opportunities for all our associates, customers and suppliers and to be a Walmart for everyone,” the statement said.

Walmart established the Center for Racial Equity in 2020 with $100 million in funding for five years, and the spokesperson said the company was fulfilling that commitment but not renewing it.

Some of the other changes included ending preferential treatment to suppliers based on diversity, such as those primarily owned by women, minorities, veterans, or members of the LGBTQ community; discontinuing racial equity training through the Racial Equity Institute; and no longer sharing company data with the Human Rights Campaign, an LGBTQ advocacy group.

The company will also stop selling some LGBTQ-related products sold by third parties on its website marketed to children, like some books and chest binders, the spokesperson said.

Walmart is not the first company to roll back DEI initiatives, nor is it the first to be scrutinized by Starbuck.

Ford, John Deere, Tractor Supply Company, Molson Coors, Lowe’s, and Harley-Davidson are among the US companies that have backed down on DEI.

Starbuck did not respond to a request for comment from BI.

In his Instagram post, Starbuck said Walmart reached out to him after it found out he was looking into the company. He said he and Walmart had “productive conversations to find solutions.”

“No retail company wants a story about them from us ahead of Black Friday,” he told The Wall Street Journal.