Donald Trump’s white supremacist beliefs, unconcealed during his 2024 campaign as he quoted Adolph Hitler and demonized immigrants of color, has been a central part of his agenda since taking office on Jan. 20. Among his first executive orders was a directive to eliminate all federal Diversity, Equity and Inclusion programs, the mass firing of all government employees who worked on DEI issues and revocation of President Johnson’s 1965 executive order prohibiting federal contractors from discriminating in employment based on race, color, religion, sex or national origin.
In response to pressure from right-wing legal groups and Trump regime threats to investigate companies with DEI initiatives, dozens of Fortune 500 companies have ended their diversity programs, including PepsiCo, Walmart, McDonald’s, Amazon, Google, Meta, and Lowe’s. But, the Target retail chain has stood out for having significantly backtracked on DEI commitments the store made in the aftermath of the 2020 police murder of George Floyd and the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement.
Now Target is facing a nationwide boycott led by Black churches, launched on March 5. The Rev. Jamal-Harrison Bryant, senior pastor at the New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Stonecrest, Georgia, is the national organizer of the 40-day boycott that he calls a “corporate fast and a spiritual act of resistance.” Between The Lines’ Scott Harris spoke with Pastor Bryant, who talks about the Trump and Republican party attack on DEI and hard-fought civil rights laws, demands being made of Target and where the boycott may go next.
REV. JAMAL-HARRISON BRYANT: It is very frightening and disturbing for the African American community because the black people in total, across the country spend $12 million a day at Target, or at least we did. They made a commitment to George Floyd’s family to invest $2 billion into black businesses. This was outside of the scope of affirmative action or DEI as you’re calling it, but in an anticipatory move, they dismantled the DEI covenant and the agreement to the George Floyd family and larger community.
They are one of the largest employers of black people in the nation. And so we take this as a personal affront and a betrayal in no uncertain terms, that you’ll take our dollars, but we will not honor our dignity. And so churches all over the country are really up in arms and as a consequence are abstaining from any consumer relationship with Target and they’re feeling it, because the shares have dropped by $12 a share in the last 30 days and they’ve lost almost $2 billion in the last 45 days.
So the impact is evident and undeniable.
SCOTT HARRIS: Pastor Bryant, talk about if you would, some of the other major Fortune 500 companies, many of them retailers that could be certainly vulnerable to a fast or a boycott. Talk about some of these other companies that may very well be in the crosshairs of activists in the near future.
REV. JAMAL-HARRISON BRYANT: Well, we are setting our eyes on Walmart, the nation’s largest retailer. We are not oblivious to Amazon’s change of position. We’re mindful of where for Ford Motor company is. Where McDonald’s is. And so all of them are under the microscope under these 40 days. At the conclusion, we look at expanding outreach and our focus to see where do we go next.
SCOTT HARRIS: And, Pastor Bryant, what has the company’s response been to the organizing of this “fast” or boycott? Have they tried to reach out to you or to other pastors around the country that are part of the organized boycott here?
REV. JAMAL-HARRISON BRYANT: No. Last week, Target ascribed blame for their market losses and downward spiral of foot traffic in physical stores and online. They blamed it on tariffs and the economy. But Costco, who is in support of DEI, has seen no decline and actually is in the middle of an upswing. So no, they have not reached out.
I think that they were just hoping that the cloud will pass. But the storm is here.
SCOTT HARRIS: Pastor Bryant, of course, one of your demands is to restore the DEI programs that Target CEOs had committed to. But that’s not the only thing. Tell us more about things you’d like to see Target as a responsible corporate citizen do.
REV. JAMAL-HARRISON BRYANT: Yeah. Well, we have four. The first one is that they will renew their covenant made to the George Floyd family of investing $2 billion for the development of black businesses.
By virtue of the fact that the black community gives $12 million a day in sales to Target, that a quarter of $1 billion will be invested into black banks so that banks would be able to afford access to capital for minorities who are trying to start businesses.
Target is presently on roughly around 27 college campuses around the country, none of which are Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). So we’re asking them to adopt 10 of those black colleges with business programs to help foster and to bolster a business acumen in young men and women who are coming through the ranks.
And the fourth one is DEI. We’ve named DEI last, because the best-kept secret in America is that black people are not the number one beneficiaries of DEI, white women are. But we believe still — as has been the historic compassion model of black people — is that what makes America great is everybody gets a seat at the table. And so we still fight for both a physical challenge — and for those who are marginalized, being a part of the LGBTQ community, our Latino brothers and sisters all — to have a seat at the table. And we’re standing firm on those four.
Listen to Scott Harris’ in-depth interview with the Rev. Jamal-Harrison Bryant (16:07) and see more articles and opinion pieces in the Related Links section of this page.
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