ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) – A well-known metro Atlanta pastor is calling for the Black community to boycott major retailer Target after it recently eliminated its diversity, equality and inclusion, or DEI, policy.
On Sunday, Dr. Jamal Bryant, pastor of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church, showed his support in joining other leaders and activists in boycotting the Minneapolis-based store, saying that they “spit in the face of Black people” by the decision.
On Friday, Jan. 24, Target announced it would join rival company Walmart in cutting out its DEI policy in response to the White House’s push to remove the initiatives.
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After George Floyd’s death in 2020, Target began its “Belonging at the Bullseye” strategy to connect with the Black community by building employees’ careers, improving their shopping experience and promoting Black-owned businesses.
Bryant highlighted how much Black people spend in Target each month and challenged the company that if they spend as much as they do, the company should be able to give back to the community through things such as employment and scholarships.
“If you’re going to take our money, you better open up your doors and open up employment and open up scholarships,” Bryant said.
The metro Atlanta pastor announced his plan to “break the spirit of ‘white entitlement,’” as he explained that his belief of the federal government’s push to eliminate DEI is based on it being a way to bring the United States back to Jim Crowe-era living.
“We’re going to break the spirit of racism and sexism. The spirit is encroaching back into our community, back into our country and back into our corporations who are intending to take us back into the 1950s,” Bryant said.
Bryant said the fight against DEI is a spiritual issue that he, his congregation and the Black community will have to come face-to-face with.
He said the church has been called to a 40-day fast and that the only way to handle it is through “prayer and fasting.”
Bryant also called for at least 100,000 members of the Christian faith, no matter the race, from around the country to “fast” from Target, by signing a pledge on Targetfast.org.
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The pastor is pushing for Target to lose revenue during the fast, saying that “racist America does not respond to speeches but to dollars.”
“I want the stock to go down because we are standing in righteous indignation against racism and sexism in this nation,” said Bryant.
The boycott is set to begin on March 5, the start of Lent. Bryant’s reason for the later start was to give the Black-owned businesses time to move their products from Target’s inventory.
>> WATCH BRYANT’S FULL SERMON:
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