Target is being pilloried on social media for Black History Month posts, with commenters calling out the company for championing the month after announcing that it’s retreating from diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) commitments.
A video that Target posted to Instagram and Facebook on Sunday features products from Black-owned brands or that may appeal to Black consumers, including Black Barbie. The post says the products are part of the company’s “new #BlackHistoryMonth collection” and that “Target is proud to come together, today and everyday (sic), to celebrate Black joy with exclusive designs and our assortment of Black-owned and founded brands.”
“You could not think posting this would yield positive comments,” user @domnthecity commented on Instagram. “You cannot be serious.”
Some other comments from Instagram:
- “The hypocrisy is loud.” (@c.b.reynolds)
- “So you want to PROFIT off black culture, but not invest in it. Got it.” (@mseaston725)
- “I believe the word of the day is performative.” (@daniela_cecilia1)
- “Alex I’ll take gaslighting for 500.” (@chaii__teaa)
Retail Brew sent two requests to Target for comment but did not get a response.
“Target’s commitment to social justice”: Target announced on January 24 that it was stepping back from diversity efforts it had previously championed, such as concluding its “three-year diversity, equity, and inclusion goals,” changing its “Supplier Diversity” program to “Supplier Engagement,” and ceasing to participate in surveys that rate its commitment to diversity, including the Corporate Equality Index from the Human Rights Campaign.
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As the Trump administration rails against DE&I initiatives—gutting them in federal agencies and even blaming diversity hiring initiatives at the Federal Aviation Administration for the fatal collision of a military helicopter and jet in Washington, DC, in January—many companies, including Walmart, Amazon, and McDonald’s have ended or curtailed their diversity programs. Some retailers, including Apple and Costco, have kept their diversity programs intact.
One reason that Target may be drawing such ire now is how unwavering its commitment to diversity was in the past.
In a 2021 statement announcing it would spend more than $2 billion with Black-owned businesses over the next four years, for example, the company said the initiative reflected “Target’s commitment to social justice and racial equity.”
Some civil rights activists have called for a boycott of Target over it backing off diversity programs, while some Black-owned brands that Target carries have argued against a boycott.
The day Target posted about Black History Month, meanwhile, turned out to hold significance on the calendar for another reason.
“It’s Groundhog Day,” noted @thatsmrsgentrytoyou on Instagram, “not April fools.”