On Thursday morning, the Rev Al Sharpton met with Brian Cornell, the Target CEO, to discuss the fallout from the company’s decision to walk back its diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts earlier this year. The meeting happened in New York at Sharpton’s National Action Network (NAN) headquarters, and also included the NAN national board chair Dr W Franklyn Richardson and the NAN senior adviser Carra Wallace.
In January, activists in Minnesota called for a boycott of Target following the Minneapolis-based company’s decision to eliminate their DEI initiatives. Though Sharpton, one of the most prominent civil-rights activists in the US, did not directly call for a Target boycott, he supported the efforts of others to boycott, and, prior to the meeting, indicated that he would be open to calling for such an action depending on how the meeting went.
Americans have boycotted various companies in recent months, following their decisions to walk back DEI efforts. Companies such as Amazon, Walmart and McDonald’s are also being boycotted over the abandonment of corporate pledges. A March poll found that one in five Americans plan to permanently boycott companies that shifted their policies to align with the Trump administration.
Sharpton called the meeting with Cornell “very constructive and candid”, in a statement posted on his Instagram on Thursday afternoon. No further details have been provided and NAN did not respond to a request for comment by the time of publication.
Following the meeting, Sharpton said that he would inform Rev Dr Jamal Bryant, an Atlanta-based pastor who called for a 40-day boycott of Target during Lent, of his “feelings” and that they “will go from there”. Nekima Levy Armstrong, one of the activists who originally called for a boycott of Target, told the Minnesota Star Tribune: “It’s unclear to us as Twin Cities organizers why Target CEO Brian Cornell would call for a meeting with the Reverend Al Sharpton given the fact that Sharpton has absolutely zero involvement in the Target boycott.”
The People’s Union USA, which called for an economic blackout in February, has continued its calls for a Target boycott, asking consumers to not spend any money at big box stores from 18 April through 20 April.
