Walmart ended several of their diversity, equity, and inclusion practices this week after conservative activist Robby Starbuck said he was preparing to report on the initiatives.
Starbuck revealed on Monday that he had told executives at the retailer that he was researching their diversity programs but instead “had productive conversations to find solutions.” The conservative activist, who has exposed leftist practices at other companies, called the changes from the firm “the biggest win yet for our movement to end wokeness in corporate America.”
Walmart will indeed remove inappropriate transgender products marketed to children, review all funding of homosexual and transgender activism to “avoid funding inappropriate sexualized content targeting kids,” ensure that their supplier diversity efforts will “not provide preferential treatment and benefits to suppliers based on diversity,” and discontinue “racial equity training.”
Starbuck noted that Walmart is the largest private employer in the country, meaning that the decision to eliminate diversity initiatives will “have a massive effect for their employees who will have a neutral workplace without feeling that divisive issues are being injected,” as well as “extend to their many suppliers” and send “shockwaves throughout corporate America.”
“The era of wokeness is dying right in front of our eyes,” he said. “The landscape of corporate America is quickly shifting to sanity and neutrality. We are now the trend, not the anomaly.”
Walmart chief executive John Furner said in an interview that the rollback of diversity programs marks an effort to ensure that “every customer” and “every associate” are now welcome.
“Like many companies all across the United States, we’ve been on a journey,” Furner remarked. “We’re going to continue to make the best decisions we can that makes everyone, our customers, our associates, feel like this is an environment they can shop in and thrive in.”
Starbuck noted that the stock price for Walmart had risen 2.1% in the twenty-four hours after they made the changes, even as Target stock prices fell 3.0% over the same time horizon.
