Black-owned brands urge US consumers not to boycott Target over end of diversity efforts [View all]

Source: Reuters

January 28, 2025 6:00 AM EST Updated 8 hours ago


NEW YORK, Jan 27 (Reuters) - Please don't boycott Target (TGT.N): That's the message from Black founders and influencers to consumers about a backlash against the retailer's decision to end its diversity, equity and inclusion efforts.

With the U.S. political climate trending right, the Minneapolis-based company announced the move on Friday prompting calls for a boycott of its stores from labor advocacy group We Are Somebody and a Minneapolis city council member. The campaign would be aimed at hurting the company's sales and preventing Target from profiting from products by minority-owned companies, advocates said.

But Black-owned companies and entrepreneurs urged against a boycott on Monday, saying they would lose revenue and consumer exposure, which would harm the brands more than the retailer.

"If we all decide to boycott ... so many of us will be affected and our sales will drop --- our businesses will be hurt," Tabitha Brown, an actress whose kitchenwares are sold at Target, said in an Instagram post. Target did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the boycott calls.

Read more: https://www.reuters.com/business/retail-consumer/black-owned-brands-urge-us-consumers-not-boycott-target-over-end-diversity-2025-01-28/

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There were a number of sessions between Harris and some of these black-owned businesses and several of what I call the "Black Enterprise" types were skeptical about her. Well they will soon join the ranks of the others who FAFO.

There have been decades and decades of work put in by all of the major civil rights organizations to get the minority-outreach programs put in place within these retailers and whoosh! As the saying goes "'Freedom' isn't 'free'".