Major retailers like Target said they ended DEI but held onto some policies behind the scenes: report

Major retailers publicly touted the end of their diversity, equity and inclusion policies to appease President Trump – but they’ve been holding on to some of the controversial programs behind the scenes, according to a report.Tractor Supply, Target and Amazon have been making quiet promises to continue their diversity initiatives, according to a Reuters report based on more than a dozen interviews, as US Attorney General Pam Bondi threatens to prosecute private firms with “illegal DEI” programs following Trump’s executive orders.Companies are “trying to thread the needle – stay true to corporate values, satisfy various stakeholders, but reduce legal risk,” Jason Schwartz, an employment law partner at Gibson Dunn who advises clients on DEI policies, told Reuters.Tractor Supply, a farm equipment retailer, was one of the first American firms to kill its diversity and carbon emissions goals in June 2024, facing the threat of a boycott from its largely red-state consumer base. The company also cut ties with the Human Rights Campaign and pledged to stop funding LGTBQ+ Pride festivals.Instead, Tractor Supply said it would beef up its support for veteran causes, emergency response agencies, animal shelters, state fairs, rodeos and farmers’ markets.But Keayana Robinson, the contractor who led the diversity data collection at Tractor Supply, told Reuters the farm supply retailer offered to keep her on at the company in an undefined role that would be “as closely aligned as possible” to the DEI work she had been doing. Managers assured her that Tractor Supply would continue its DEI initiatives behind the scenes, including its resource groups for underrepresented employees, she said.“I don’t want to work for an organization that wants to hide me,” she told Reuters.Tractor Supply did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.In January, just days after Trump took office, Target said it was ending its diversity goals and canceling r...