Local groups plan to picket the Steelyard Commons Target on Saturday as part of a boycott against the retail chain for dropping its diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs.
“If Target has taken DEI and totally thrown it in the garbage can, then why should we shop there?” said Norman Edwards, president of the Black Contractors Group, one of the organizers of the protest. “That Black buying power can be spent at businesses that support DEI.”
Target ended its DEI initiatives about a week after President Donald Trump issued an executive order Jan. 20, his first day in office, that terminated DEI at federal agencies. The order affected programs designed to create a level playing field, including for African Americans and other people of color, women, people with disabilities, veterans and the LGBTQ+ community.
They have to understand that we’re not going back to yesterday and yesteryear. I know what it was like before [DEI and other diversity programs.] It is almost like night and day with regard to where we were.”
Rev. E. Theophilus Caviness, senior pastor of The Greater Abyssinia Baptist Church in Glenville, on the importance of protesting rollbacks in diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs.
Shortly after Target dropped DEI, many proponents of the policy urged shoppers to boycott the national retailer. Like Edwards, they were most concerned that the chain’s $2 billion initiative for Black-owned businesses was ending. The initiative, started after the police killing of George Floyd in 2020, included Target carrying Black-owned brands and promoting them.
Edwards said that while his protest is Cleveland-based, he likes the national boycott led by the Rev. Jamal Bryant, senior pastor of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Atlanta. Bryant’s boycott is promoted as a 40-day Lenten fast from shopping at Target. The fast/boycott began March 5, which was Ash Wednesday, the start of Lent.
In the wake of Trump’s order, “Ending Radical And Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing,” many companies eliminated or curtailed diversity programs. They include Amazon, McDonald’s, Pepsi, Paramount and Walmart, according to Forbes. Various organizations nationally have either planned to boycott some of these companies or have boycotts underway.
The loss of programs aimed at addressing racial and other forms of discrimination, which were the result of the Civil Rights Movement, makes Edwards and other protesters draw upon the movement for inspiration. They refer to the 13-month Montgomery bus boycott that desegregated city buses in 1956.
The protest at the Steelyard Commons Target will start at noon on March 15. The Cleveland chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) and the American Center for Economic Equality, which Edwards founded, are the other organizers.
Signal Cleveland has contacted Target about the boycott and protest and will update this article when the retailer responds.
Has Target lost money because of the boycotts?
Several black-and-white photos from the Civil Rights Movement are displayed on the “Target Fast” website. Some show picket lines in front of stores, in which protesters carry signs demanding that businesses respect Black customers and their economic impact. “Do not Buy Where You Will Not be Hired” reads one sign a picketer carried in front of a supermarket.
For the Rev. E. Theophilus Caviness, senior pastor of The Greater Abyssinia Baptist Church in Glenville, a member of SCLC’s national board and head of the Cleveland chapter, such photos offer more than a history lesson. He lived through the era. At 96, he said he has “suffered every egregious, hateful activity” one can imagine for being Black in America.
Caviness believes it is important to fight against eliminating DEI in the private and government sectors.
“They have to understand that we’re not going back to yesterday and yesteryear,” he said. “I know what it was like before [DEI and other diversity programs.] It is almost like night and day with regard to where we were.
“We cannot remain silent, then the other side will win,” he said. “We can ill-afford to have that happen.”
Edwards, who has spent the past two decades fighting for Black businesses to get contracts on publicly funded projects, agrees.
“We hope to hurt Target in the pocketbook by making them realize that Black dollars will go to other stores,” he said.
It appears that boycotts may be affecting Target’s bottom line. Foot traffic at the retailer was down nearly 5% the week of Feb. 24 from the same week in 2024, according to Retail Brew, which follows the industry. Traffic was also down the four weeks before. Contrast this with foot traffic for Costco, which many boycotters said they are shopping at since the company has refused to abandon its DEI programs. Costco’s foot traffic rose nearly 7% for the week of Feb. 24 over the year before. It also has increased since Target got rid of DEI.
Boycott demands that Target reinstate its $2 billion DEI program for Black businesses
When Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin murdered Floyd, it led to what many labeled a “racial reckoning.” This included examining how institutional racism has perpetuated persistent economic and social inequality for Black Americans.
Minneapolis-based Target responded by creating its Racial Equity Action and Change (REACH) initiatives, which pledged to invest over $2 billion with Black-owned businesses “from vendors and construction companies to advertising agencies” by the end of 2025. The company committed to a media campaign to promote more than 500 Black-owned brands. (A quick glance at target.com shows that the retailer still sells many Black-owned brands.)
“They have to put that $2 billion for Black businesses back on the table,” Edwards said.
Signal Cleveland has asked Target how much of the $2 billion pledge had been honored before the program was discontinued.
The Atlanta-based organizers of the boycott also want the retailer to honor the $2 billion pledge. Their other demands include Target depositing $250 million in Black-owned banks.
After Target dropped REACH, people on social media began calling for a boycott against Target as early as the beginning of Black History Month. But a debate ensued. Some of the Black-owned businesses carried by Target spoke out against the boycott, saying that it would hurt these Black-owned brands.
Perhaps the most vocal among them was Tabitha Brown, the vegan cuisine and natural haircare influencer who has several million social media followers. Target carries several of her brands, including her home goods, hair care products and spices. In the online debate, some people argued in favor of a boycott and said that withholding business is the most reliable way to effect change.
Those boycotting the retailer say that Black businesses don’t have to be hurt by people refusing to shop at Target. They urge shoppers to purchase from the websites of these Black businesses, shop at local Black businesses and support companies that have not rolled back DEI. People who take the pledge to participate in the boycott on targetfast.org receive a digital directory of 300,000 Black-owned businesses.
Other boycotters are suggesting that shoppers consider using Black business directories such as Shop the Hood, the Black Buying Guide.
About 110,000 people – 10,000 more than the organizers’ goal – have signed the pledge, according to a March 5 Washington Post article.
Aren’t companies other than Target being boycotted?
Target isn’t the only company being boycotted.
The People’s Union USA, which describes itself as “a grassroots movement dedicated to economic resistance, government accountability and corporate reform” has scheduled several boycotts, or what they call “blackouts,” for this year. While the People’s Union USA supports DEI, the concept is not the focus of its boycotts.
The group’s boycotts include the Amazon Blackout, which began March 7 and will continue through March 14, that asks participants not to purchase anything from Amazon or Whole Foods. The Nestlé Blackout is planned for March 21-28, and a Walmart Blackout is scheduled for April 7-13.
The People’s Union led the 24-Hour Economic Blackout, in which participants agreed not to buy anything on Feb. 28. The one-day effort may have had some impact. Amazon’s web traffic was down 4.6% when compared to the previous Friday, according to USA Today. Walmart’s web traffic was down 6.5%, and Target’s web traffic was down 1.0%
Many social media posts erroneously attributed the 24-Hour Economic Blackout to the Rev. Al Sharpton, founder and president of National Action Network. The organization said it would announce a boycott during its convention, which will take place April 2-5.
Edwards plans to boycott more than Target.
“We’re going to go for 40 days, and then we’re going to hit McDonald’s,” he said. “We’re gonna hit Amazon. We’re gonna hit Walmart – and a lot more.”
