On his first day in office, President Trump signed an executive order aimed at ending diversity, equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs across the federal government.
Four days later, saying it had already planned to end the racial preference program this year, Target announced that it would also conclude its DEI goals.
In his X post and video responding to the "MASSIVE news," Robby Starbuck breaks down what that means.
For starters, the retailer will no longer participate in the Human Rights Campaign's scoring system.
"They are concluding their racist … I mean racial equity action and change initiatives for 2025 and beyond," he relays. "Employee resource groups are going to be expected to be focused on the core business – development and mentorship – not wokeness."
Target, which Starbuck says has had a major wokeness problem for years, will also be reevaluating all its corporate partnerships to ensure they are directly connected to their business. Supplier policy is also changing to where everything is based on merit and not preferential treatment to "diverse" suppliers.
"It's just going to be who's the best supplier, the way that every business should be run," says Starbuck.
Other big name corporations have also done away with DEI policies, including Walmart, which made similar changes near the end of 2024.
In 2023, U.S. Supreme Court outlawed affirmative action in college admissions, emboldening conservatives to bring or threaten lawsuits against companies with policies like Target's that favor people of certain races or sexual orientation.
Starbuck is among the people fighting corporations over such things and demanding they return to a neutral position where businesses make and sell things without weighing in on political issues.
