Lowe’s Cos. is scaling back its diversity, equity and inclusion programs, the latest American company to end such initiatives following a series of activists attacks on firms that promote DEI.
The home-improvement retailer will no longer participate in surveys for LGBTQ advocacy group the Human Rights Campaign, and will also combine its various business resource groups that represent diverse employees into one umbrella organization, it said in an internal note.
It’ll also focus on sponsoring events related to safe and affordable housing, disaster relief and skilled trades education, and will not participate in community events outside of this remit, according to the note, which was seen by Bloomberg News and confirmed by a Lowe’s spokesman.
U.S. corporations have been facing pressure to curtail programs they adopted following the murder of George Floyd by a White policeman in 2020 and an ensuing racial reckoning. A Supreme Court decision last year banning affirmative action at universities has emboldened opponents of DEI programs, invigorating legal activists including Edward Blum and former Donald Trump staffer Stephen Miller, who’ve filed lawsuits and issued complaints to the US government around corporate hiring that they say unfairly favors non-White workers.
Robby Starbuck, whose calls to boycott several firms that promote DEI have led to those companies cutting back or eliminating diversity programs, claims credit for the move by Lowe’s. The company changed its DEI policy after Starbuck reached out to the firm last week, he said on X. In a subsequent post, he boasted about his success rate.
