Rev. Al Sharpton hosts 'buy-cott' rally at NJ Costco for preserving DEI
Costco is keeping its DEI initiatives, even after President Donald Trump signed an executive order that ended DEI in federal programs.
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Diversity, Equity and Inclusion policies have become a hot-button issue for companies across America in recent weeks.
As some companies roll back their policies based on a new executive order, others are doubling down.
A group of local leaders, including the Rev. Al Sharpton, staged a “Buy-Cott” Saturday afternoon at Costco in Union to support the company for maintaining its DEI policies. The group spoke outside Costco and then went inside to shop.
“We're going to show them that our money is our power,” said Newark Mayor Ras Baraka. “We're going to spend it with people who love us, who respect us, who uplift us.”
Costco is keeping its DEI initiatives, even after President Donald Trump signed an executive order that ended DEI in federal programs. The order also encourages the private sector to follow suit, calling DEI “illegal discrimination” that violates American civil rights laws.
Those at the rally disagreed.
“We are not going to allow him to turn back the clock on our rights,” Sharpton said. “DEI came out of Affirmative Action, which was a Republican Party platform.”
“DEI is not a handout,” said Plainfield Mayor Adrian Mapp. “It’s like a rising tide that lifts all boats.”
Even before Trump’s executive order, some companies, including Target, Walmart, Meta, Amazon, and McDonald’s announced they were rolling back some aspects of their DEI initiatives.
These programs generally featured policies for hiring, training or for picking vendors. Many of these companies have pledged other initiatives for inclusion and diversity.
One Costco shopper whom News 12 spoke with, who was unaware of the rally, said she’s no longer buying from stores who dropped DEI.
“I’ve been a member of Costco forever, over 20 years, and I’m going to tell you - if they join that group, I’m going to be out of there,” said Sandra Ross, of Brooklyn.
Costco could face legal challenges from all this. Nineteen Republican attorney generals - that does not include New Jersey - sent a letter to Costco management asking them to repeal their DEI policies within 30 days, or explain why they have not.
