News (USA)

John Deere caves to “anti-woke” conservatives & drops LGBTQ+ inclusivity efforts

It's a huge victory for a right-wing activist who is targeting DEI programs at large companies.
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The Powerful tractors at John Deer store at Kyiv, Ukraine on June 16, 2020. Row of brand new John Deere tractors outside
Row of brand new John Deere tractors outside Photo: Shutterstock

John Deere, a multi-billion dollar agricultural machinery company, will no longer participate in “social or cultural awareness parades” and will remove all “socially motivated messages” from its training materials and workplace policies,” the company announced via X on Tuesday.

The company’s announcement follows a recent social media campaign by Robby Starbuck, a film director turned conservative activist, who highlighted John Deere’s diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts — efforts that conservatives largely oppose. Last month, a similar campaign from Starbuck got the Tractor Supply Co. to end its DEI programs, stop sponsoring Pride events, and withdraw from carbon emission goals.

Related:

Tractor Supply Co. caves to conservative critics & ends Pride support & relationship with HRC

The chain said that they will “focus on rural America” by no longer supporting LGBTQ+ people and employees of color.

“Based on ongoing conversations… we will no longer participate or support external social or cultural awareness parades, festivals or events. Business resource groups will exclusively be focused on professional development, networking, mentoring, and supporting talent recruitment efforts. [We are] auditing all company-mandated training materials and policies to ensure the absence of socially motivated messages while being in compliance with federal, state and local laws.”

The company’s statement also noted that “the existence of diversity quotas and pronoun identification have never been and are not company policy.” However, it stated, “We fundamentally believe that a diverse workforce enables us to best meet our customers’ needs, and because of that, we will continue to track the advancement of the diversity of our organizations.”

“We remain committed to listening to our customers, employees, and other key stakeholders,” its statement concluded. “Your trust and confidence in us, are of the utmost importance to everyone at John Deere, and we fully intend to earn it every day and in every way we can.”

Starbuck made a series of social media posts on X highlighting the company’s political donations to pro-transgender politicians, sponsorship of the Lesbians Who Tech Pride Summit, and its hiring of a DEI manager who championed queer inclusion online, Starbuck repeatedly accused the company of “pushing a social agenda” because of their involvement in LGBTQ+ events and efforts towards queer-inclusion.

He also insinuated that the company’s hiring practices were racist because of videos and online posts about hiring a diverse workforce and acknowledging the experiences of non-white workers.

In response to John Deere’s recent announcement, Starbuck wrote, “Another huge win in our war on wokeness BUT I don’t think this is enough for customers to go back. Customers want to hear that DEI policies are entirely gone and that they will no longer participate in social credit CEI scoring by HRC.”

‘”This half measure shows that we’re a powerful force to be reckoned with though,” he added. “While I’m not completely pleased, I don’t want to downplay the fact that this is another massive win. All of you are helping me force corporate America back to sanity. I won’t rest until we eliminate leftism from corporate America.”

“At this point I think we can safely say that my strategy to bring back normalcy works,” he said in another post. “You just need to report the truth to people about what’s happening in corporate America. We have over 1,000 different whistleblowers coming from many different companies. Woke corporate executives all fear that their company is next to be exposed. Some will now drop their programs without us ever even doing a story. We’re proving that the customer is king again.”

Republicans, right-wingers, and other conservatives largely oppose DEI and LGBTQ+-inclusivity efforts as being “woke,” “indoctrination,” “reverse racist,” and “anti-white.” Several red states have passed laws outlawing any government-funded DEI efforts, leading to the closure of cultural centers in colleges and leaving community service organizations scrambling to figure out how they can serve marginalized communities without violating the law.

Some conservatives have also begun using complaints against DEI as a way to cover their queerphobic, misogynist, and racist views.

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