The summer of 2020 was not only one of fear but also that of violence. The world—or, at least, some of it that was privileged enough to find a TV screen amid the pandemic—watched in horror at the death of George Floyd. The African-American died from asphyxiation after a Caucasian police officer, Derek Chauvin, pressed his knee on Floyd’s neck for at least nine-and-a-half minutes.
Mounting videos and evidence from multiple camera footage made clear Floyd’s dying cries: “I can’t breathe.” Yet, it took almost a year for a US grand jury to convict Chauvin, of two counts of murder and one of manslaughter, in what more than half of the American public had already passed the verdict—a racially profiled death.
US administration had its hurdles to jump, and even as former president Joe Biden declared that the verdict was “not enough” and that “we can’t stop here”, the death of the 46-year-old sparked protests not just in the US but globally too.
A court sketch from the hearing of Derek Chauvin
The George Floyd protests and the prevailing climate urged many global conglomerates to make major investments in initiatives promoting racial equity and promoting programmes that bolster diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI).
As the world battled an invisible virus that, at the time, had no vaccine or cure in sight, corporations—one after the other—embraced DEI. This was further bolstered when a multifaceted research report was published by McKinsey and Company in 2020.
Titled ‘Diversity wins: How inclusion matters’, the research employed sentiment analysis and multiple testimonials from the C-suite of major firms to conclude that “companies should act with urgency” as the business case for inclusion and diversity “remains strong”.
(File) A George Floyd memorial event at the Confederate statue | AP
The study linked inclusion and diversity to company growth strategy and laid some suggestions for crafting inclusion initiatives. “Greater diversity, in terms of both gender and ethnicity, is correlated with significantly greater likelihood of outperformance,” the report made clear.
“Respecting others means creating an environment where our employees feel welcomed and encouraged to bring their whole selves to work,” said Rainia L. Washington in 2020 about DEI initiatives, who was then the Chief Global Diversity and Inclusion Officer at Lockheed Martin.
Washington, who ended her 26-year stint at the defense and weapons contractor, moved to become the Executive VP and HR head at Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) by the end of that summer.
Target Corporation was also featured in the study. Target CEO Brian Cornell went on record to say, “Diversity and inclusion are at the heart of what we do at Target,” in the 2020 report.
“Seventy-five per cent of the US population lives within 10 miles of a Target store,” he explained at the time, “and in order to win in retail, we need to reflect that population in our team to ensure we deliver the product, services, experiences and messages our guests want and need.”
Fast forward to 2024, just four days after Donald J Trump took charge as the 47th President of the United States, Target announced that it would scale back most of its diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.
One of the largest US retailers, the company also said that it plans to scrap its three-year DEI goals and conclude its Racial Equity Action and Change (REACH) initiatives.
Target’s latest actions included “stopping all external diversity-focused surveys, including HRC’s Corporate Equality Index”.
This was far removed from the CEO’s statement four years ago. In contrast, the recent memo from Target’s chief community impact and equity officer, Kiera Fernandez, read, “Many years of data, insights, listening and learning have been shaping this next chapter in our strategy,” as the retail giant looked to justify ending DEI initiatives.
Target’s decision came days after Trump issued executive orders to end DEI initiatives in federal programmes. He also instructed agencies at his disposal to investigate DEI programmes of publicly listed companies.
After the US Supreme Court overturned affirmative action in admissions to Universities back in 2023, lawsuits alleging DEI initiatives violating US civil rights mounted, urging corporations to reassess their programmes.
(File) Demonstrators confront one another in Washington, DC, after the 2023 US Supreme Court decision to strike down race-conscious student admissions at universities | Reuters
The following year, major companies such as Walmart, McDonald’s and Meta cut down DEI programmes. While this trend of curtailing DEI efforts in the corporate sector marked a sharp 180-degree turn from the summer of 2020, a few major corporate giants stood their ground.
A day before the Target announcement, Costco shareholders voted down an anti-DEI proposal, while Microsoft doubled down on the importance of inclusion and diversity.
In their recent ‘Global Diversity & Inclusion Report’, the tech giant stated, “If ever there were a critical time for the business case for diversity and inclusion in the workplace, it is now.”
As industries process the implications of Trump’s very public anti-DEI stance, companies are being forced to pick sides. The accountability that comes with it might indeed be the very thing that the corporate sector needs. This could be the push that they need to introduce more scrutiny to DEI and thereby create such initiatives that could stand the test of time and law.
In line with McKinsey report almost half a decade ago, Microsoft’s chief diversity officer Lindsay-Rae McIntyre recently stated that “embracing difference raises the bar”. And the latest developments could raise the bar for diversity, equity, and inclusion around the world.
