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‘Big rollback’: Walmart’s DEI rollback incites new push for racial equality | Walmart


A year after the killing of George Floyd, Doug McMillon, CEO of Walmart Warning to American companies. Floyd’s death sparked a wave of protests against systemic racism and was not an “isolated event.” “We have a long history of racism, and we see unacceptable incidents continuing.”

Walmart and other major American companies have pledged to address inequality in their businesses, pledges that many fear will be dropped once the focus on Floyd’s killing and its aftermath fades. “We cannot let that be the case,” he wrote, explaining how the company was publishing “its diversity metrics twice a year” and calling on companies to “continue to address the systemic racism and structural inequality that is rooted in this nation’s society.” The history of slavery and it still exists today.”

Times have changed. Last month, Walmart became the latest company to capitulate to a right-wing campaign against diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, announcing that it would stop using the term DEI altogether, drop DEI trainings, and no longer consider race and gender as a way to improve diversity. When bidding to suppliers and will not renew the Center for Racial Equity is committed to addressing “the root causes of the gaps in outcomes experienced by Black and African Americans.”

Tanika Hightower. Photography: United for Respect/Tanika Hightower

For TaNeka Hightower, the news was a “slap in the face.”

“I sympathize with pretty much all of the groups that DEI covers,” said Hightower, a Walmart employee of about seven years in Memphis, Tenn. “I wonder, would I still want to work at Walmart because they don’t acknowledge the safety concerns? The concerns about livable wages, and now I’m being slapped in the face because the groups I identify with are being told that you are no longer protected by us.

Walmart’s decision was celebrated by conservative activist Robbie Starbuck, who has campaigned against similar initiatives at Ford, Harley-Davidson, Lowe’s and others. However, it appears the company plans to roll back its DEI policies In business Before Starbuck intervenes.

Hightower said she found the reversal “very disturbing.” She said that no communication had been given to workers about the changes, and that she only learned of the reversal through the news.

“This also confirms that we are no longer part of the family. We never were. We were invited to the table to help set the table, but we were not actually supposed to eat from said table.”

A union-backed Walmart workers group, United for Response, attempted to present a proposal to shareholders at Walmart’s past two annual shareholder meetings for an independent audit of racial equity by a third party of the company.

The sweat equity shareholder proposal fell short of the 20% support Walmart needed to discuss it, receiving 18% in 2023 and just over 15% in 2024. Hightower said it plans to resubmit it at its 2025 annual shareholder meeting in Arkansas.

Billionaire Walton family contract about 46% Of Walmart’s stock, about 35% of the company’s shares are owned by investment groups, banks and other institutions, including BlackRock. Shareholder proposal receive Supported by 42% of shareholders who are not part of the Walton family in 2023.

Hightower said she was pushing for an audit “to find out the disparities in how people of color are selected for those senior roles, how there is a difference in pay, how there is a difference in workload expectations based on race, color and gender.” .

Bianca Agustin, co-executive director of United for Response, said the DEI rollback policies came as a surprise to Walmart shareholders and were concerning given that Walmart is the largest private employer in the U.S. overall and for the company. Black Americans and slim.

“Given Walmart’s sheer size as the world’s largest employer, and the demographics of both its local workforce and its suppliers, it was very disappointing,” Augustin said. “I think this is just a major pushback in response to the Trump administration.”

In Walmart’s opposition to the racial equity shareholder proposal, Agustin said they cited several DEI policies that the company had just rolled back, and claimed that the company performs internal audits of racial equity but has never published the results of those audits.

“We expect a number of bloggers to chime in on this. “I think a lot of investors were surprised and shocked and disappointed to see Walmart pull back,” Agustin said. “Wal-Mart has a real responsibility, given its size, to track this, disclose it, and step up to the plate.” The level of mission they intended when they started the Center for Racial Equity, which aimed to address the root causes of inequality. “I think this is just a slap in the face, for employees and stakeholders who care.”

Walmart has not commented on the shareholder proposal or criticism of the rollback of the DEI policy. “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,” a company spokesperson said in a statement. “We can achieve this because we are willing to change alongside our partners and customers who represent America.” “We’ve been on a journey and we know we’re not perfect, but every decision comes from a desire to foster a sense of belonging, open doors to opportunity for all of our partners, customers and suppliers and be everyone’s Walmart.”

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