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Rev. Al Sharpton is urging the public to boycott companies that are cutting their diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs.
On Monday (January 20), Sharpton announced the boycott during a ceremony honoring slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., whose official holiday coincided with President Donald Trump's inauguration, per The Hill.
Sharpton said his organization, the National Action Network, is calling on all Americans to boycott companies that no longer support DEI. McDonald's, Meta, Walmart, John Deere, Harley-Davidson, Lowe’s, and Ford are among the major companies that have rolled back their DEI policies amid right-wing pressure.
“Why do we have DEI? We have DEI because you denied us diversity, you denied us equity, you denied us inclusion. DEI was a remedy to the racial institutionalized bigotry practice in academia and in these corporations. Now, if you want to put us back in the back of the bus, we gonna do the Dr. King-Rosa Parks on you,” Sharpton said Monday to a group of supporters gathered at Metropolitan AME Church.
“You must have forgot who we are,” he added. “We are the ones that you took everything and we still here.”
Sharpton said a council will hold a 90-day study of what companies have abandoned DEI and their margins of profit. Following the study, two companies will be specifically targeted in the boycott.
The reverend said he would be supporting companies that have doubled down on their DEI practices, like Costco, amid the boycott.
The boycott came just as Trump signed an executive order on Monday to end “radical and wasteful” diversity, equity, and inclusion programs in federal agencies. On Tuesday (January 21), Trump ordered all federal DEI employees to be put on leave as his administration gears up to close all DEI-related offices and programs.
During his remarks, Sharpton pointed out the stark difference between those gathered at the church and those who gathered to support Trump on his Inauguration Day.
“We want people to see the tale of two cities in one district,” Sharpton said. “On this side of town, Martin Luther King Jr. gave his life to open up America for everybody: Blacks, whites, gays, straights, it didn’t matter. We are with Dr. King.”
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