Caving to MAGA Threats, John Deere Dumps Inclusivity Initiatives
The agricultural machinery giant's decision to drop DEI efforts came after a social media campaign by anti-"woke" activists.
John Deere has caved to pressure from MAGA and other right-wing influencers and will no longer recognize or participate in Pride Month, after threatened with boycotts over its diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts.
In a memo posted to its official X account, the agricultural machinery company said it had revised its corporate guidelines to “focus on sponsorships supporting the business and brand,” and had agreed to sponsor only nonprofits focused on combating larger societal issues such as hunger, economic development, poverty alleviation, or that support causes like agricultural education initiatives or initiatives benefiting service members and veterans.
As part of John Deere’s move away from prioritizing DEI, the company pledged to no longer participate in “social and cultural awareness parades,” which many see as an allusion to Pride festivities; to focus the efforts of its “Business Resource Groups” on professional and talent development, recruiting, and mentoring; and to reject “diversity quotas” or the compelled use of pronouns within the company.
The company also pledged to remove all “socially motivated messages” from training materials and workplace policies.
John Deere’s announcement followed a social media campaign by film director-turned-conservative activist Robby Starbuck, who had criticized the company for allegedly supporting “woke” ideology and sponsoring events or initiatives that conservatives find objectionable.
Among those objectionable activities were donations to pro-LGBTQ politicians, sponsoring the Lesbians Who Tech Pride Summit, and hiring a DEI manager who championed LGBTQ inclusion online.
Starbuck also insinuated that the company might be engaging in “racist” hiring practices, citing videos and online posts about prizing a diverse workforce or acknowledging the experiences of non-white workers.
Starbuck said he wanted to educate consumers about the company’s practices in the hope that potential customers would threaten John Deere with the loss of their business if the company didn’t rescind its DEI initiatives.
Last month, a similar campaign — also started by Starbuck — got the Tractor Supply Co. to dump its DEI programs, stop sponsoring Pride events, and withdraw from carbon emission goals.
“Another huge win in our war on wokeness BUT I don’t think this is enough for customers to go back,” Starbuck wrote in response to the company’s post. “Customers want to hear that DEI policies are entirely gone and that they will no longer participate in social credit [Corporate Equality Index] scoring by [the Human Rights Campaign].
“This half measure shows that we’re a powerful force to be reckoned with though. While I’m not completely pleased, I don’t want to downplay the fact that this is another massive win,” he added. “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.”
Starbuck’s efforts to report on corporations’ DEI policies or support of pro-LGBTQ causes continue an ongoing trend of social and political conservatives accusing major companies of supporting “woke” ideology, “indoctrination” into accepting LGBTQ identity as valid or normal, and supporting so-called “reverse racism” by espousing policies that, in their view, will give jobs that might have otherwise gone to white people to allegedly “unqualified” people of color.
Some states, including Florida, Texas, and Utah, have passed laws outlawing any government-funded DEI efforts. Because of those laws, public colleges have been forced to effectively dismantle offices committed to promoting diversity, including those with any race-specific or pro-LGBTQ programs or initiatives.
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