‘People should be calling out the low wages’: The internet tears into Walmart’s repulsive DEI rollback
Notorious anti-DEI activist Robby Starbuck threatened a Walmart boycott to pressure the company to scale back on DEI policies. Walmart has buckled under the pressure, but it wouldn’t avoid scrutiny.
Starbuck celebrated his success against Walmart’s ‘corporate wokeness’ on Twitter. He alarmed the retail giant’s executives that he’ll be doing a story of ‘wokeness’ at Walmart. Instead, he was able to persuade the executives to commit to changes that are largely unfavorable to Pride and racial justice. Among these changes will include the “transgender products marketed to children” and the removal of racial equity training through the Racial Equity Institute. Walmart also decided not to participate in HRC’s Corporate Equality Index.
Former Senator Nina Turner chimed in on the issue. She responded on X saying, “The issue with Walmart isn’t DEI, it’s the fact that in nine states alone, Walmart had 14,500 employees on SNAP and 10,350 on Medicaid. Instead of attacking corporations for diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, people should be calling out the low wages.” Worker’s rights are obviously not Starbuck’s major concern.
Minorities were just a trend
Starbuck deflects corporate problems on social efforts by companies that relate to climate activism, the LGBTQ+ community, and other racial minorities. So far, his activism has convinced at least sixteen major companies to scale back on DEI initiatives. Now that supporting these marginalized groups is no longer needed for the sake of decency, corporations are slowly dissociating.
Simply put, conscious capitalism is no longer needed in the current political climate. The trends are shifting to a populist Trump America, after all—a world that is more hostile to trans people and people of color. Starbuck’s activism isn’t the cause of all these changes. Rather, it’s a symptom of companies trending rightward.
Arguably, none of these commitments by companies to social justice were genuine. The Walton family (owners of Walmart) was a donor to The Heritage Foundation from 2002 through 2018. Walmart wasn’t rolling back on DEI. Starbuck merely gave them the courage to drop their facade altogether. Now, they can proceed with business as usual.
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