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Farm equipment maker John Deere<\/a> says it will no longer sponsor \u201csocial or cultural awareness\u201d events, becoming the latest major U.S. company to distance itself from diversity and inclusion measures after being targeted by conservative backlash.<\/p>\n In a statement posted Tuesday to\u00a0social media platform X<\/a>, John Deere also said it would audit all training materials \u201cto ensure the absence of socially-motivated messages\u201d in compliance with federal and local laws. It did not specify what those messages would include.<\/p>\n Moline, Illinois-based John Deere added \u201cthe existence of diversity quotas and pronoun identification have never been and are not company policy.\u201d But it noted that it would still continue to \u201ctrack and advance\u201d the diversity of the company, without providing further details.<\/p>\n The move from the company known on Wall Street as Deere & Co. arrives just weeks after rural retailer Tractor Supply<\/a> ended an array of its corporate diversity and climate efforts. Both announcements came after backlash piled up online from conservative activists opposed to diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, sponsorship of LGBTQ+ Pride events and climate advocacy.<\/p>\n Conservative political commentator and filmmaker Robby Starbuck appeared to lead the criticism of both companies on X<\/a>.<\/p>\n Starbuck posted that John Deere\u2019s announcement marked \u201canother huge win in our war on wokeness,\u201d but said that it still wasn\u2019t enough, calling on the company to completely eliminate its DEI policies and no longer participate in Corporate Equality Index scoring from the Human Rights Campaign, the largest advocacy group for LGBTQ+ rights in the U.S.<\/p>\n Starbuck, a 35-year-old Cuban American, told The Associated Press that \u201cit\u2019s not lost on me my kids would benefit from this stuff,\u201d but he opposes hiring decisions that factor in race, as well as DEI initiatives, employee resource groups that promote non-professional activities and any policies that in his view allow social issues and politics to become part of a company culture.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople should go to work without having to feel like they have to behave a certain way in order to be acceptable to their employer,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Starbuck and other conservative activists celebrated Brentwood, Tennessee-based Tractor Supply for taking a more aggressive approach than John Deere last month by pledging to\u00a0eliminate all of its DEI roles<\/a>\u00a0while retiring current DEI goals and stop submitting data to the Human Rights Campaign.<\/p>\n But the move also sparked\u00a0outrage from critics of the new position<\/a>, who have argued that Tractor Supply is giving in to hate.<\/p>\n John Deere\u2019s move has faced similar pushback. Eric Bloem, vice president of programs and corporate advocacy at the Human Rights Campaign, called the announcement \u201cdisappointing\u201d and \u201ca direct result of a coordinated attack by far-right extremists on American business.\u201d<\/p>\n National Black Farmers Association President John Boyd Jr. called for the resignation of Deere & Co CEO John C. May and a boycott of the company on Wednesday.<\/p>\n The organization said that Deere \u201ccontinues to move in the wrong direction\u201d in regards to DEI and has \u201cfailed to show its support\u201d for Black farmers since NBFA\u2019s founding. It also noted Tuesday\u2019s announcement arrives one month after the company\u00a0agreed to pay $1.1 million<\/a>\u00a0in back wages and interest to 277 Black and Hispanic job applicants after the Labor Department alleged hiring discrimination.<\/p>\n The conservative backlash against DEI has extended\u00a0to companies across industries<\/a>, including previous boycott campaigns against\u00a0Bud Light<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Target<\/a>\u00a0over their LGBTQ+ marketing. Starbuck said he has a list of companies he is thinking of posting content about, starting with ones that have traditionally conservative customer bases. He declined to name his next target.<\/p>\n The ensuing changes to policy and corporate commitments aren\u2019t just coming from company boardrooms. Leading HR organization Society for Human Resource Management last week announced that the 340,000-member lobbying and advocacy group will drop \u201cequity\u201d from its diversity and inclusion approach, although it said it remains committed to advancing it.<\/p>\n \u201cEffective immediately, SHRM will be adopting the acronym \u2018I&D\u2019 instead of \u2018IE&D,\u201d the group said in a statement posted on LinkedIn<\/a>. \u201cBy emphasizing Inclusion-first, we aim to address the current shortcomings of DE&I programs, which have led to societal backlash and increasing polarization.\u201d<\/p>\n The move, in turn, triggered a backlash among LinkedIn users, some calling it \u201cbackward\u201d and \u201cshameful.\u201d Others replied that they were planning to cancel their SHRM memberships.<\/p>\n Still others stress that prioritizing equity is critical for leveling the playing field, saying this kind of omission signals a shift in messaging that could have chilling consequences on efforts toward workplace equality.<\/p>\n In an interview with The AP on Wednesday, SHRM\u2019s president and CEO Johnny C. Taylor, Jr. said the organization\u2019s focus groups found general consensus around prioritizing diversity and inclusion, but \u201cthe E triggered like all sorts of emotions and responses.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou either loved it, you hated it,\u201d he said. \u201cIf it\u2019s so polarizing that people just abandon it, then we all lost.\u201d<\/p>\n Legal attacks\u00a0against companies\u2019 diversity, equity and inclusion efforts<\/a>\u00a0have also drawn more attention following the Supreme Court\u2019s\u00a02023 ruling<\/a>\u00a0to end affirmative action in college admissions. Many conservative and anti-DEI activists have been seeking to\u00a0set a similar precedent<\/a>\u00a0in the working world.<\/p>\n \u201cThe blowback and the potential vulnerabilities are real,\u201d said Jen Stark, co-director of the Center for Business and Social Justice at BSR, a consulting network of more than 300 companies.<\/p>\n A vast majority of companies are \u201cnot taking the bait\u201d and keeping policies in place \u201cbecause it makes good business sense and it\u2019s also the right thing to do,\u201d she said. Still, she added, external pressures are building up.<\/p>\n The U.S. is also in a fraught presidential election year, with bubbling conversations about the prospect of Project 2025 \u2014 a term for the Heritage Foundation\u2019s nearly 1,000-page handbook for the next Republican administration, which has become a cudgel Democrats are wielding against former President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n Stark noted that companies across industries are bracing for the prospects of potential changes in terms of their federal contracts, for example, which have historically been a powerful way to promote equity in workplaces.<\/p>\n That doesn\u2019t mean companies will stop their DEI efforts entirely, she added, but they may have to change language or find new workarounds.<\/p>\n \u201cAll these flash points that companies are, sort of, limping between is the new normal,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\nRecommended Newsletter: <\/strong>CEO Daily provides key context for the news leaders need to know from across the world of business. 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