Some shoppers engaged in 40 day Target boycott

Time - Some shoppers have decided to participate in a month-plus-long boycott of Target due to the retailer’s new shift away from diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies. 

“We’re asking people to divest from Target because they have turned their back on our community,” Rev. Jamal Bryant, pastor of the New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Georgia, told CNN. Bryant is the organizer behind the boycott, and is specifically asking Black shoppers to fight against anti-DEI policies with their dollar. The boycott is starting on the first day of Lent, and will concurrently last a total of 40 days. 

Target was one of several corporations—including Disney and Google—that announced they would be reversing course on their DEI efforts following President Donald Trump’s January Executive Order attacking DEI, where he called it an “illegal and immoral discrimination program.”

More specifically, the company announced on Jan. 24 it would put an end to their three-year DEI goals, Racial Equity Action and Change (REACH) initiatives, and “external diversity-focused surveys,” including the Human Right Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index. In that same press release, Target said it “remain[s] focused on driving our business by creating a sense of belonging for our team, guests and communities through a commitment to inclusion.”

Still, the decision has proven unpopular by some customers. “Black people spend upwards of $12 million dollars a day, and so we would expect some loyalty, some decency and some camaraderie,” Bryant added. And the current boycott is not the only one targeting larger corporations. During the economic blackout last Friday, Target reportedly saw a drop in traffic both online and the app.