Anti-'woke' activists waged war on DEI. Civil rights groups are fighting back.

(This story was updated to correct a misspelling/typo.)

National civil rights organizations are urging business leaders to reject a growing campaign to abolish workplace diversity, equity and inclusion policies and programs and defend “decadeslong, pro-business decisions” to increase equality in the workplace.

"Recently, some CEOs have caved and announced their company’s divestment from diversity, equity and inclusion efforts," the Human Rights Campaign, NAACP, the National Organization for Women and 17 other groups wrote in a letter to Fortune 1000 chief executives shared exclusively with USA TODAY. "These capitulations weaken businesses and the American economy more broadly. And, these shortsighted decisions make our workplaces less safe and less inclusive for hard-working Americans."

The letter marks the first time national organizations have come together to counter a social media pressure campaign that has led to an unprecedented rollback of DEI efforts at major U.S. companies.

Concessions made by Molson Coors, Harley-Davidson, John Deere, rural retailer Tractor Supply, Jack Daniel's distiller Brown-Forman and Stanley Black & Decker range from ending participation in external workplace rankings to dropping diversity goals for employees and suppliers. 

The architect of the campaign is Robby Starbuck, a 35-year-old activist from Tennessee who says he is working to get divisive social issues and politics out of the workplace.

Earlier this year, he began targeting brands popular with conservatives that he says had fallen “out of alignment” with their customers. His social media followers rallied to the cause. Starbuck says conservatives are now "activist consumers" who "aren’t afraid to use their wallets as a weapon."

More recently, Starbuck expanded his anti-"woke" campaign to more mainstream brands, such as Ford and Lowe’s, that acceded to some of his demands.

“I think our campaigns have been extremely successful because we’ve focused on making companies a welcoming place for everyone,” Starbuck said. “Average people don’t want political takes from their tool company or grocery store. They just want great products and service.”

Backing away from DEI investments risks alienating employees and customers, the civil rights groups told CEOs.

According to an Edelman survey, 60% percent of people say an inclusive work culture with a well-supported diversity program is critical to attracting and retaining them as an employee.

“When values of diversity, equity and inclusion are tested by politically motivated, anti-business forces, CEOs and corporate board members must defend them unequivocally," the civil rights organizations said. "To be clear, women workers, people of color and disabled workers aren’t making political statements when they show up to work and ask for equal policies, benefits and treatment.”  

Energized by last year's Supreme Court ruling that ended race-conscious college admissions, anti-DEI activists are increasingly taking aim at corporate America with a wave of legal challenges.

They have been joined by more than a dozen GOP attorneys general who have sent letters to Fortune 500 corporations threatening legal action over DEI policies and GOP lawmakers in multiple states who have pushed legislation to restrict DEI efforts in the workplace. 

DEI critics allege that women and people of color are being handed jobs and promotions at the expense of more qualified and deserving candidates. They also argue that any program that excludes white workers is just as illegal as a program that excludes Black workers.

The potential for blowback and litigation has unnerved the private sector. Companies once bragged about their DEI programs. Now most avoid the subject.

Some Fortune 500 executives like JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon have begun publicly reaffirming their commitment to DEI principles. 

“It’s good for business. It’s morally right. We’re quite good at it. We’re successful,” Dimon recently said of DEI at a Council of Institutional Investors conference.

But, he said, he's not interested in "other people pointing fingers" from the political right or left. "I'm not 'woke' at all," he said.

DEI programs and policies are intended to level the playing field for all employees. Historic advantages have helped men dominate the business world, widening gaps in status, pay and wealth. 

Women are outnumbered 5 to 1 in senior leadership, according to a USA TODAY analysis of the top executive officers at the nation’s 100 largest publicly traded companies. The gap for women of color was five times wider than the disparity for white women, the analysis found.

“Businesses right now are being put in difficult positions where they are being attacked by extremists and where they are under significant pressure,” said Eric Bloem, the Human Rights Campaign’s vice president of programs and corporate advocacy.

Starbuck has focused much of his efforts on workplace training and other programs for LGBTQ+ workers.

All eight of the companies targeted so far by Starbuck have dropped participation in a benchmark index the Human Rights Campaign uses to measure how friendly a company’s policies are to LGBTQ+ people.

“I think it’s clear that the LGBTQ+ community has been bearing a significant brunt of some of the attacks right now, but the decisions that these businesses are making affect all of our communities,” Bloem said. 

He says that's why representatives from historically marginalized groups are calling on corporate leaders “to stand up and defend their values.”

Fatima Goss Graves, president and CEO of the National Women’s Law Center, says anti-DEI campaigns could set back progress made since George Floyd died under a white police officer’s knee in May 2020.

This week, a report from LeanIn.org and McKinsey & Co. found that corporate efforts to increase the number of women in the leadership pipeline declined for the first time in 10 years amid the DEI backlash.

“This is a leadership moment,” Graves said. “I commend the vast majority of companies that are taking their obligations seriously. For those who are intimidated by a small number of extremists, I hope they will reconsider.”