John Deere appears to be buckling under pressure from consumers to jettison its commitment to “diversity, equity, and inclusion” initiatives, announcing on Tuesday that it will be dropping out of such events and conducting a review of its internal policies.
As previously reported by The Dallas Express, activist Robby Starbuck put a spotlight on the company earlier this month over its perceived commitment to “wokeness.”
“To put it mildly, John Deere seems to have forgotten who their customers are. Having a farm myself, I’m disgusted that a once great American brand is now taking this turn to seemingly embrace leftist policies that are diametrically opposed to the values of most farmers,” wrote Starbuck on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.
Starbuck highlighted a litany of events John Deere was putting its credibility behind, including a Pride festival that allows children to attend.
Here’s some of what USA Today reported on the company’s abrupt pivot:
Farm equipment manufacturer John Deere announced this week it is scaling back a series of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives.
In a statement released on Tuesday, the company said it would be eliminating or changing multiple internal policies and initiatives, adding that “our customers’ trust and confidence in us are of the utmost importance to everyone at John Deere.”
“We will no longer participate in or support external social or cultural awareness parades, festivals, or events,” the statement read.
John Deere also announced that it would be “auditing all company-mandated training materials and policies to ensure the absence of socially motivated messages,” and would be “reaffirming within the business that the existence of diversity quotas and pronoun identification have never been and are not company policy.”
The company also announced all employee resource groups will now focus “exclusively on professional development, networking, mentoring and supporting talent recruitment efforts.”