NEW YORK (AP) — Farm equipment maker John Deere said it will no longer sponsor “social or cultural awareness” events, becoming the latest major U.S. company to distance itself from diversity and inclusion efforts after facing conservative backlash.
In a statement posted on social media platform X on Tuesday, John Deere also said the company would review all training materials to ensure they do not contain socially motivated messages in order to comply with federal and local laws, but did not elaborate on what those messages would include.
Moline, Illinois-based John Deere added, “The existence of diversity quotas and pronoun identification has never been and will never be company policy.” However, the company noted that it will continue to “pursue and promote” the company’s diversity, without providing further details.
The move by the company known on Wall Street as Deere & Co. comes just weeks after rural retailer Tractor Supply ended a number of its diversity and climate efforts. Both announcements came after mounting online backlash from conservative activists opposed to diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, sponsorship of LGBTQ+ pride events and climate action.
Conservative political commentator and filmmaker Robby Starbuck seemed to lead the criticism of both companies regarding X.
Starbuck wrote that John Deere’s announcement represents “another major victory in our fight against wokeness,” but said it was still not enough, calling on the company to eliminate its DEI policies entirely and stop participating in the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index, the largest LGBTQ+ rights advocacy group in the U.S.
Starbuck, 35, a Cuban-American, told the Associated Press, “I’m well aware that these things would benefit my children.” But he opposes hiring decisions that take race into account, DEI initiatives, employee resource groups that encourage non-work activities and any policies that he believes allow social issues and politics to become part of the company’s culture.
“People should go to work without feeling like they have to behave a certain way to be acceptable to their employer,” he said.
Starbuck and other conservative activists celebrated Brentwood, Tennessee-based Tractor Supply for taking a more aggressive approach than John Deere last month, pledging to eliminate all of its DEI roles, abandon current DEI goals and stop reporting data to the Human Rights Campaign.
However, this move also sparked outrage among critics of the fresh position, who argued that Tractor Supply was giving in to hate.
John Deere’s move faced similar opposition. Eric Bloem, vice president of programs and corporate advocacy at the Human Rights Campaign, called the announcement “disappointing” and “a direct result of a coordinated attack by far-right extremists on American companies.”
National Black Farmers Association President John Boyd Jr. on Wednesday called for the resignation of Deere & Co CEO John C. May and a boycott of the company.
The organization said Deere “continues to go in the wrong direction” on DEI and has shown “no support” for Black farmers since the NBFA was formed. It also noted that Tuesday’s announcement came a month after the company agreed to pay $1.1 million in back wages and interest to 277 Black and Hispanic job applicants after the Labor Department accused them of hiring discrimination.
The conservative backlash against DEI has spread to companies across industries, including previous boycott campaigns against Bud Light and Target over their LGBTQ+ marketing. Starbuck said he has a list of companies he wants to publish content about, starting with companies that traditionally have a conservative customer base. He declined to name his next target.
The resulting changes in policies and corporate commitments aren’t just coming from corporate boardrooms. Leading HR organisation the Society for Human Resource Management announced last week that the 340,000-member lobby and advocacy group would drop “equal opportunity” from its approach to diversity and inclusion, but said it remained committed to driving the approach forward.
“Effective immediately, SHRM will use the acronym ‘I&D’ instead of ‘IE&D,'” the group said in a statement posted on LinkedIn. “By putting inclusion first, we aim to address the current shortcomings of DE&I programs that have led to societal backlash and increasing polarization.”
The move, in turn, sparked a backlash from LinkedIn users, with some calling it “backward” and “shameful.” Others responded by saying they planned to cancel their SHRM membership.
Others stress that prioritizing equality is critical to leveling the playing field, and say such omissions signal a shift in messaging that could have devastating consequences for workplace equality efforts.
In an interview with the AP on Wednesday, Johnny C. Taylor, Jr., president and CEO of SHRM, said the organization’s focus groups found a general consensus that diversity and inclusion were a priority, but “the E triggered all kinds of emotions and reactions.”
“You either loved it or you hated it,” he said. “If it’s so polarizing that people just give up on it, then we’ve all lost.”
Legal attacks on corporate diversity, equity and inclusion efforts have also garnered more attention following the Supreme Court’s 2023 ruling to end affirmative action in college admissions. Many conservative and anti-DEI activists are trying to set a similar precedent in the workplace.
“The setbacks and potential vulnerabilities are real,” said Jen Stark, co-director of the Center for Business and Social Justice at BSR, a consulting network of more than 300 companies.
The enormous majority of companies are “not taking the bait” and sticking to their policies “because it makes business sense and it’s the right thing to do,” she said. Still, she added, external pressure is building.
The United States is also entering a tense presidential election year, with heated debates raging over the prospect of Project 2025 – the name of the Heritage Foundation’s nearly 1,000-page handbook for the next Republican administration, which has become a weapon used by Democrats to attack former President Donald Trump.
Stark noted that companies across industries are preparing for potential changes, such as to their federal contracts, which have historically been an effective way to promote equal opportunity in the workplace.
That doesn’t mean companies will stop their DEI efforts entirely, she added, but they may need to change their language or find fresh workarounds.
“All these crisis areas, between which companies are somehow limping, are the new normal,” she said.
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AP Business Writer Lisa Leff in London contributed to this report.
___ Savage is a reporter on the Women in the Workplace team. Associated Press coverage of women in the workplace and state government coverage receives financial support from Pivotal Ventures. AP is solely responsible for all content. AP’s standards for working with charities, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas can be found at AP.org.
