A prominent Southern California activist has joined the nationwide backlash hitting Target just days after the store chain rolled back its diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs. Earl Ofari Hutchinson, president of the Los Angeles Urban Policy Roundtable, led a limited daylong boycott of the retail company on Monday and warned that additional actions might take place in February, which is Black History Month.
Hundreds of Angelenos said on social media that they joined the 24-hour boycott of the major retail store carried out on Jan. 27, said Hutchinson, who explained why the action was brief.
“It was easy to manage and easy for people to do,” he said, adding that the one-day event was “mindful not to hurt Black vendors” who have products on Target shelves.
Some Black-owned or founded brands at the chain store include BLK & Bold Specialty Coffee, Pardon My Fro hair products, Naturalistas dolls and Black History clothing lines. “We don’t want them [impacted],” he said.
The boycott was held just three days after Target announced the ending of its DEI initiatives. “It’s unconscionable,” said Hutchinson in a Facebook video recorded in front of the Target store at 3535 S. La Cienega Blvd. in LA.
“A majority of the shoppers here are African-American and Hispanics,” said Hutchinson, adding that “they spend a lot of money, tens of millions of dollars … literally every day at Target buying goods, services, pharmaceuticals.”
That Target store in central LA is one of about 20 the company has in the county, including several in the valley communities of Burbank, Mission Hills, North Hollywood, Pacoima, San Fernando and Van Nuys. Target has nearly 2,000 stores in the U.S., with California having the most locations.
Diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives were endorsed by many large American corporations after the protests that followed the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police in 2020.
However, DEI in the private sector has become a target of conservative activists since the U.S. Supreme Court outlawed affirmative action in university admissions in mid-2023. Among the first companies rolling back DEI were Ford, Lowe’s, Harley-Davidson and John Deer.
Now companies are feeling the pressure of President Donald Trump, who has heavily criticized DEI initiatives in both the private and public sectors as divisive and discriminatory. Trump signed executive orders as his first act in office to end federal diversity programs, including in the nation’s military.
Now Target has added its name to the growing list of American companies that more recently scaled back or ended their diversity programs since Trump’s election victory. In addition to Target, those businesses include Amazon, Walmart, McDonald’s and Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram.
Hutchinson criticized Target’s DEI rollback saying it amounted to “buckling” under and “bowing” to Trump.
Since Target’s announcement last week, some people have called for a blanket boycott of businesses backtracking on diversity. Hutchinson favored a limited approach that could still send a strong message to company executives. A full boycott was “not realistic,” he noted. “We’re going to continue to shop at many of these outlets, we already know that.”
Hutchinson appeared satisfied with Monday’s action. “We’ve sent a strong message to Target: ‘We’re displeased with your elimination of DEI programs and initiatives.’” He also encouraged more people to contact Target executives to demand action for equity and inclusion.
Pro-diversity activists will be waiting for an answer from the corporation.
“We sent them our press release calling for the boycott and haven’t got any response back yet,” Hutchinson said.
The activist added that the Los Angeles Urban Policy Roundtable will keep the pressure on. “We’re going to monitor this very closely to see exactly what Target’s response is,” said Hutchinson. “If corporate management continues to say, ‘We’re through with DEI,’ then we’re going to go back again with another action probably in February. And that’s symbolic because February is Black History Month.”
But, he warned, next time the action will be for a longer period and cover a wider region. “It won’t be for 24 hours but a week-long boycott of Target, and we’re going to extend it. This time was focused primarily on Target stores in the Los Angeles area. Now we’re going to extend it to all of California.”
Founded and hosted by Hutchinson, the Los Angeles Urban Policy Roundtable is a weekly non-partisan public policy forum in Los Angeles that includes sponsors and a long list of community partners. Target did not respond to an email sent by the San Fernando Valley Sun/el Sol by press time.
I agree with the idea of a boycott of Target , Lowe’s, Walmart and other companies that have eliminated DEI policies. I hope people across the entire country will spend their dollars elsewhere. I will not support any of these businesses as long as they take this position.
Standing with Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion because it’s the just thing to do and it’s smart. So goodbye Target.