Leading Civil Rights Groups Call on Fortune 1000 Businesses to Embrace DEI

Nearly 20 civil rights groups, including the NAACP, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) and the American Association of People with Disabilities have issued a strongly worded open letter to Fortune 1000 businesses, calling on them to support diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) principles and practices. The letter also has been shared across the groups’ platforms.

These groups’ actions have been prompted by recent moves away from DEI by a number of companies, including several retailers. Tractor Supply said it would eliminate DEI roles, withdraw carbon emission reduction goals and stop support for “nonbusiness” LGBTQ+ and voter registration causes in July 2024, and immediately faced backlash from groups including the National Black Farmers Association. John Deere followed Tractor Supply’s lead a few weeks later. Target was sharply criticized for its May 2023 decision to remove LGBTQ+ Pride-themed merchandise from its stores.

Additionally, in recent months companies including Ford, Harley-Davidson and Lowe’s have ended or altered their DEI programs, partnerships with civil rights organizations and local event sponsorships, according to MarketingDaily.

Citing DEI’s Positive Impact on the Bottom Line

The letter framed the issue around dollars-and-cents issues: “Abandoning DEI will have long-term consequences on business success — ultimately shirking fiduciary responsibility to employees, consumers and shareholders. Businesses that fail to include women, people of color, people with disabilities and LGBTQ+ people neglect their financial duty to recruit and retain top talent from across the full talent pool and limit their company’s performance overall.”

Additionally, the groups’ letter cited data from McKinsey, based on a survey of 1,039 companies with at least $15 billion in annual revenue, showing that companies in the top quartile for both gender and ethnic diversity are 12% more likely to outperform all other companies. There’s also a penalty for a lack of diversity: companies in the bottom quartile underperform all other companies by 27%.

A recent survey from Edelman shows that 60% of people say an inclusive work culture with a well-supported diversity program is critical to attracting and retaining them as an employee, nine percentage points higher than in 2022.

Abandoning DEI also can affect consumer demand: an August 2024 HRC study revealed that 75.7% of LGBTQ+ adults said they would have a less favorable opinion of a company that rolled back DEI efforts, with downstream impacts on where they spend their money.

Future-Proofing Against Gen Z’s Increased Diversity

The letter also addressed the increased diversity of consumers, particularly younger cohorts: “One in four Gen Zers are Hispanic, 14% are Black, 6% are Asian, 5% are some other race or multiple races, and 30% are LGBTQ+ identified. Our nation’s disabled population continues to grow: recent CDC [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] data showed the number of disabled adults in the United States grew from 61 million in 2018 to 70 million in 2024, or more than one in four Americans (28.7%).”

The letter calls on “business leaders and corporate board members to lead. When values of diversity, equity and inclusion are tested by politically motivated, anti-business forces, CEOs and corporate board members must defend them unequivocally. To be clear, women workers, people of color and disabled workers aren’t making political statements when they show up to work and ask for equal policies, benefits and treatments. By abandoning best practice programs to support these workers, you not only capitulate to political forces and disregard what’s good for your bottom line, but you introduce risks of discrimination and bias to your employees and your company.”