Walmart becomes biggest company to roll back DEI policies

Walmart on Monday confirmed it would roll back its Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) policies, becoming the latest and largest company to succumb to conservative pressure on the issue.

A string of companies have made changes to their respective DEI initiatives this year, amid scrutiny following a Supreme Court ruling that banned affirmative action from being considered in college admissions. Some of the other companies include DoorDash, Harley-Davidson, and Lyft.

Walmart told the Associated Press that it would monitor third-party items they sell to ensure that they do not include sexual or transgender products aimed at minors, and that it would no longer consider race or gender a factor when offering contracts to suppliers.

The family-friendly retailer also claimed that it will be limiting its grants to Pride events, by reviewing the grants to make sure the event does not include sexualized content that targets children, such as featuring a booth next to a drag show. 

“We’ve been on a journey and know we aren’t perfect, but every decision comes from a place of wanting to foster a sense of belonging, to open doors to opportunities for all our associates, customers and suppliers and to be a Walmart for everyone,” the company said in a statement.

Walmart said it will also be ending its racial equity training programs for staff, per CNN, and will not extend its Center for Racial Equity, which was slated to last five years and was established in 2020.

Misty Severi is an evening news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.