Walmart Phases Out DEI Initiatives Amid Escalated Attacks From Conservative | Walmart

Walmart, the world’s largest retailer, will phase out several diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in its workplaces as far-right conservatives continue to target such programs.

Among several sweeping changes, the company will no longer consider race and gender as a means of improving diversity when making offers to suppliers, multiple outlets reported.

“Our purpose, to help people save money and live better, has been at our core since our founding 62 years ago and continues to guide us today. We can deliver because we are willing to change together with our employees and customers representing all of America, we’ve been on a journey and know we’re not perfect, but every decision comes from a place of wanting to foster a sense of belonging, open doors to opportunity for all our employees, customers and suppliers and be a Walmart for everyone,” the company said in a statement to the Guardian.

Walmart will no longer offer DEI training through the Racial Equity Institute, a consulting firm specializing in improving corporate diversity and equity, Washington Post reported.

The company nor will renew a racial equity center it established through a five-year commitment to “address the root causes of achievement gaps black and African-Americans experience in the education, health, financial and criminal justice systems,” according to Walmart’s. website.

The multinational company will also remove LGBTQ+ merchandise from its stores, CNBC reports reported.

The decision to discontinue DEI efforts at Walmart was first announced by conservative pundit Robby Starbuck, who continued to attack the DEI effort as anything but an ongoing campaign.

Starbuck claimed that “Walmart is ending their wake policies,” in a post to X.

“Last week, I told executives at (Walmart) that I was doing a story about vigilance there. Instead, we had productive conversations to find solutions,” Starbuck said, before listing several of the DEI initiatives Walmart is ending .

Walmart, which employs approximately 1.6 million American workers, is just the latest company to end its DEI programs in recent months. Lowe’s, Harley-Davidson and Ford Motor Company have all scaled back their DEI programming.

DEI programs have long been under scrutiny, but conservatives have escalated attacks on such initiatives following Donald Trump’s victory in the 2024 US presidential election.

Companies have also continued to roll back their diversity initiatives since the U.S. Supreme Court ended affirmative action for college admissions in June 2023, a major blow to inclusion efforts.