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By Jesus Mesa
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A weeklong nationwide boycott targeting Walmart, spearheaded by a group called the People's Union USA, kicked off Monday with the ambition of sending a message to one of the world's largest retailers over its rollback of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs.
While the action, running through April 14, has generated buzz online, experts and advocates on both sides of the DEI debate say Walmart may prove more insulated—and far better positioned to withstand such protests—than other brands that took public fire related to their implementation or dismantling of DEI initiatives.
Geography, demographics and a calculated communications strategy have long helped to keep the Arkansas-based retail giant largely out of the American culture wars.
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Walmart's Quiet Pivot on DEI
Walmart was once a prominent DEI player, participating in the Human Rights Campaign's Corporate Equality Index and publicly supporting supplier diversity. But beginning in late 2024, amid the presidential election, the company made significant changes without much noise. Anti-DEI activist Robby Starbuck told Newsweek that was no accident.
"Walmart is a good example. I worked directly with them to eliminate their DEI efforts," said Starbuck, who claimed credit for the policy change in a post to X. "They were the smartest company I've worked with—very direct, very responsive. We identified what wasn't working, and they addressed it quickly without dragging things out."
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In late November, as Americans were heading to Walmart and other grocers to stock up for Thanksgiving, Starbuck said Walmart's corporate office had agreed to end a number of DEI policies, including a commitment to scrap the use of "LatinX" in official communications, identifying and removing "inappropriate sexual and/or transgender products marketed toward children" and the discontinuation of racial equity training.
Among other changes, some of which the retailer said were already underway before Starbuck's involvement, Walmart said it will no longer give priority treatment to suppliers owned by women or minorities. The company also will not renew a five-year commitment for a racial equity center set up in 2020 after the police killing of George Floyd. And it pulled out of a prominent gay rights index, according to the Associated Press.
In a previous statement to Newsweek regarding this week's boycott movement, a spokesperson said the company remained "dedicated to earning the business of all Americans and giving our time and resources to causes that uplift and unite communities who rely on us every day."
In some ways, Walmart's rollback of its DEI initiatives was reflective of a broader cultural shift taking place in the wake of President Trump's return to the White House. According to a Pew survey released just after the election, American workers had grown somewhat more skeptical of DEI in the workplace, with 52 percent saying it was a "good thing" compared to 56 percent in February 2023. The share of those saying it was a "bad thing" went up five points in that timeframe.
As Stefan Padfield, executive director of the Free Enterprise Project, a center-right advocacy group, put it to Newsweek: "Most Americans don't believe in discrimination based on race or sex."
"While they want to address inequality, they find it morally wrong to use race or sex to decide who gets hired, promoted, or fired. When companies commit to moving away from that, customers respond positively."
Too Rural to Fail?
Beyond its historically deft handling of various cultural landmines, Walmart's physical footprint may also explain its relative protection from the pro-DEI boycotts. Where brands like Target have a heavy presence in urban metroplexes like New York, Seattle and San Francisco—cities more likely to rally around progressive social movements like the one underway—Walmart thrives in rural and suburban markets.
"Each company has a different level of exposure depending on their customer base," said David Glasgow, executive director of the Meltzer Center at NYU. "There's a clear partisan divide in attitudes toward DEI."
That difference, Glasgow said, has been key.
"A company like Walmart, with a broad footprint across more conservative and rural areas, may be more insulated from those risks," he said.
"It's not surprising that companies that were early to scale back DEI—like Tractor Supply, John Deere, and Harley-Davidson—have more rural or conservative brand identities. That may explain why Walmart is less vulnerable compared to companies like Target."
Data also backs up the idea that Walmart is largely absent from America's most progressive cities.
A 2018 analysis by data scientist Aaron Lee, which compared retail locations with voting patterns, found that Walmart tends to cluster in red and swing-state areas, making it a symbol of "Republican retail," while grocery chains like Trader Joe's and Whole Foods were more common in Democratic-leaning urban centers.
Still, some experts say Walmart's ability to mostly avoid the fallout from various boycotts is shaped more by context than coincidence. The backlash against corporate DEI efforts—especially since the 2024 election and the Supreme Court's 2023 decision on affirmative action—has created an environment where companies are retreating, publicly or not, from initiatives seen as moral imperatives as recently as the beginning of the decade.
"The outcome of the 2024 presidential election... has only intensified the anti-DEI momentum," Glasgow said.
What Comes After DEI?
With DEI under attack and political polarization accelerating, companies are increasingly rethinking how—or whether—they address issues of inclusion among their workforces and suppliers. According to data from the Meltzer Center, there are currently more than 100 lawsuits challenging DEI initiatives active across the country.
But what replaces DEI depends on who's answering the question.
Starbuck believes diversity can thrive without the label. "The whole premise behind DEI is false," he said. "The idea that if we focus on merit, Latinos and Black Americans won't get hired—that's offensive."
For others, the challenge is steering the conversation back to inclusion without triggering backlash.
Glasgow urged companies to resist the impulse to rewrite values based on digital outrage. "Rather than shifting strategies based on political noise or social media backlash, companies should ask: What do we believe in? Do we support equal opportunity for all employees? Do we want a culture where people from all backgrounds feel they belong?"
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Alison Taylor, a professor at NYU's Stern School of Business and author of Higher Ground: How Business Can Do the Right Thing in a Turbulent World, said the acronym may be part of the problem—but the goals still matter.
"If you ask most people, they're not against diversity or inclusion," she said. "The acronym 'DEI' has come to represent bureaucratic, divisive efforts that often don't reflect the original goal of creating better, more inclusive organizations."
Taylor pointed to the example of Costco, the Walmart competitor which recently rejected a shareholder proposal to dismantle its DEI policies. The big-box retailer didn't frame its decision around profitability but instead defended DEI on broader business grounds.
"DEI critics have seized on inconclusive research regarding whether strong DEI efforts accrue to the bottom line," she said. "Costco avoided making profitability claims and stuck to other valid business reasons."
As both DEI critics and advocates engage in high stakes battles over the future of workplace inclusion, one thing unites them: they are very much online, immersed in digital conversations that don't always reflect broader consumer sentiment.
Glasgow put it bluntly: "Too many companies are paying attention to digital noise rather than long-term trends. We need less panic and more principle."
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