Civil rights activists call for a Target boycott after retailer backs away from diversity programs

abcnews.go.com:

Civil rights activists have gathered outside Target's Minneapolis headquarters to call for a boycott of the retailing giant over its decision to phase out its diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives

MINNEAPOLIS — Civil rights activists gathered outside the headquarters of Target Corp. on Thursday to call for a national boycott of the retailing giant over its decision to phase out its diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.

Target announced last Friday that it would join competitor Walmart and a number of other prominent American brands in scaling back their DEI initiatives, which have come under attack from conservatives and the new White House of President Donald Trump.

Nekima Levy Armstrong, a veteran civil rights lawyer in Minneapolis and founder of the Racial Justice Network, joined other local activists and their supporters at a news conference to urge people to begin the boycott on Saturday, the first day of Black History Month. Many of the participants were regular Target shoppers until now, she said.

Levy Armstrong said they were “stunned” that Target, which increased its commitment to building a more diverse workforce in the aftermath of the police killing of George Floyd, a Black man, in Minneapolis in 2020, backed away from its support of racial equity.

“We thought that they would hold the line. We thought that they would continue to stand for the values that we all hold dear,” she said. «But instead they acted cowardly, and they made the decision to bow down to the Trump administration. Well, we are here today saying we will not bow down. We will not step back, and we will not turn around.”

Jaylani Hussein, executive director of the Minnesota chapter of the Council on Islamic-American Relations,