Disney, Kohl's, other woke companies are disguising their DEI schemes: Report
By all appearances, normalcy advocates and the Trump administration have successfully demolished much of the private-public DEI regime. Appearances are, however, often deceiving.
Consumers' Research highlighted in a new report the trend of big companies publicly suggesting that they are ditching their DEI policies, programs, and language, but in reality rebranding the same divisive efforts under the corporate buzzwords "inclusion and belonging."
"It's the same racism under a different name," Will Hild, executive director of Consumers' Research, said in a statement to Blaze News. "Rebranding from DEI doesn't change the anti-white and anti-Asian nature of these activities. Corporations should focus on serving customers by finding and retaining the best talent, not engaging in a retrograde racial patronage scheme."
Consumers' Research, a nearly century-old consumer protection outfit that has worked in recent years to combat environmental, social, and governance initiatives, pointed out such rebranding efforts at Disney, Dollar Tree, Kohl's, Nationwide, and UPS.
'Inclusion and belonging are part of our fabric.'
UPS, for instance, previously had a page titled "Diversity, Equity & Inclusion," where the company stated:
Diversity, equity and inclusion are part of our fabric and the legacy of our founders. Our rallying cry, You Belong at UPS, guides us in creating a culture of belonging where every UPSer experiences a safe, welcoming workplace where they can be their truest selves.
The page has since undergone minor cosmetic changes. It is now titled "Inclusion and Belonging" and states:
At UPS, inclusion and belonging are part of our fabric and the legacy of our founders. It's part of our core values and guides us in creating a culture where every UPSer experiences a safe, welcoming workplace where they can be their truest selves.
Consumers' Research noted that the company — which continues to provide a 50% discount off the initial franchise fee for potential franchisees who are members of select identity groups — also continues to have identity-based employee resource groups, including for black, Asian, Hispanic, non-straight, handicapped, female, and "multicultural" employees.
'We have evolved our framework.'
Kohl's made the news last month for wiping DEI references off its website. These too were cosmetic — an effort, Hild suggested, to "keep their DEI programs afloat ... and avoid scrutiny for doing so."
Bloomberg indicated that the retailer similarly swapped out DEI on its website for "inclusion and belonging." Previously, Kohl's had a DEI page where it detailed its efforts to "embed DEI throughout our business," identified its "diverse owned brands & suppliers," and advertised its identity-based business resource groups.
The Kohl's diversity page is now more or less the same, albeit with fewer rainbows and more commitments to "inclusion and belonging."
As part of the change, Michelle Banks, the company's chief DEI officer, became the Kohl's chief inclusion and belonging officer. The continuity in practice was such that she did not even bother with a new entry on LinkedIn.
Banks told Bloomberg, "We have evolved our framework to focus on inclusion and belonging."
It appears to be the same story at Dollar Tree.
Whereas before the company noted online that it was committed to "developing [a] DEI mindset" and having its associates "embrace and celebrate diversity, equity & inclusion," now Dollar Tree claims online that it is committed to "developing [a] mindset of inspiring belonging" and having its associates "embrace and celebrate [its] culture of belonging."
'Efforts to disguise wokeness in fact confirm that these companies are well aware that Americans want to move on from DEI.'
Disney's shareholders appear committed to riding the DEI train until the wheels come off despite at least one federal civil rights complaint. However, Consumers' Research noted that the company nevertheless announced changes to its DEI programs in February "to focus on business outcomes."
With the exception of the elimination of the Reimagine Tomorrow initiative, which sought to highlight stories based on the race or sexual preferences of the people telling them, the changes at Disney again largely came down to word substitutions.
Axios reported that the "diversity and inclusion" factor Disney used to evaluate executives' performance is now called the "talent strategy" factor. The company also changed the name of its "business" employee resource groups to "belonging" employee resource groups, signaling an embrace of the new language.
Like the other woke companies, Nationwide apparently wavered in its explicit "unwavering commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion," as it too has jumped aboard the "belonging" train. The insurance company now claims to have an "unwavering commitment to belonging, respect and fairness."
"Every one of these departments needs to be dismantled and removed, root and stem," stated Will Hild of Consumers' Research. 'Efforts to disguise wokeness in fact confirm that these companies are well aware that Americans want to move on from DEI, which is why they're trying to push it behind their backs."
"The simultaneous acknowledgment and disregard of consumers’ preferences is as insulting as it is embarrassing," added Hild.
Fox News Digital indicated that Kohl's, UPS, Nationwide, and Dollar Tree did not respond to requests for comment about the report.
The consumer advocacy group's report on the woke companies' DEI rebrand is part of its broader "Woke Alert" campaign.
Blaze News previously reported that Consumers' Research offers a free "Woke Alert" text service that notifies grocery shoppers and other American consumes which brands are linked to the left's cultural, economic, and social agendas. Subscribers are notified when an organization or brand ceases to merely sell a product and instead begins peddling a radical ideology.
At the outset, the service enraged California Rep. Robert Garcia (D), who stated, "The right wing is hell-bent on moving our country backwards, and this new text service is laughable."
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