John Deere ends support of 'social or cultural awareness' events, distances from inclusion efforts

Two John Deere on board module cotton strippers, owned and operated by DVB Harvesting, work their way through a field of cotton on Aug. 21, 2020, in Winterhaven, Ariz. (Randy Hoeft/The Yuma Sun via AP, File)

NEW YORK -

Farm equipment maker John Deere says it will no longer sponsor "social or cultural awareness" events, becoming the latest major U.S. company to distance itself from diversity and inclusion measures after being targeted by conservative backlash.

In a statement posted Tuesday to social media platform X, John Deere also said it would audit all training materials "to ensure the absence of socially-motivated messages" in compliance with federal and local laws. It did not specify what those messages would include.

• The information you need to know, sent directly to you: Download the CTV News App

Moline, Illinois-based John Deere added "the existence of diversity quotas and pronoun identification have never been and are not company policy." But it noted that it would still continue to "track and advance" the diversity of the company, without providing further details.

The move from the company known on Wall Street as Deere & Co. arrives just weeks after rural retailer Tractor Supply 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 LGBTQ2S+ Pride events and climate advocacy.

Conservative political commentator and filmmaker Robby Starbuck appeared to lead the criticism of both companies on X.

Starbuck posted that John Deere's announcement marked "another huge win in our war on wokeness," but said that it still wasn't 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 LGBTQ2S+ rights in the U.S.

Starbuck, a 35-year-old Cuban American, told The Associated Press that "it's not lost on me my kids would benefit from this stuff," 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.

"People should go to work without having to feel like they have to behave a certain way in order to be acceptable to their employer," he said.

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 eliminate all of its DEI roles while retiring current DEI goals and stop submitting data to the Human Rights Campaign.

But the move also sparked outrage from critics of the new position, who have argued that Tractor Supply is giving in to hate.

John Deere's move has faced similar pushback. Eric Bloem, vice president of programs and corporate advocacy at the Human Rights Campaign, called the announcement "disappointing" and "a direct result of a coordinated attack by far-right extremists on American business."

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.

The organization said that Deere "continues to move in the wrong direction" in regards to DEI and has "failed to show its support" for Black farmers since NBFA's founding. It also noted Tuesday's announcement arrives one month after the company agreed to pay $1.1 million in back wages and interest to 277 Black and Hispanic job applicants after the Labor Department alleged hiring discrimination.

The conservative backlash against DEI has extended to companies across industries, including previous boycott campaigns against Bud Light and Target over their LGBTQ2S+ 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.

The ensuing changes to policy and corporate commitments aren't 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 "equity" from its diversity and inclusion approach, although it said it remains committed to advancing it.

"Effective immediately, SHRM will be adopting the acronym 'I&D' instead of 'IE&D," the group said in a statement posted on LinkedIn. "By emphasizing Inclusion-first, we aim to address the current shortcomings of DE&I programs, which have led to societal backlash and increasing polarization."

The move, in turn, triggered a backlash among LinkedIn users, some calling it "backward" and "shameful." Others replied that they were planning to cancel their SHRM memberships.

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.

In an interview with The AP on Wednesday, SHRM's president and CEO Johnny C. Taylor, Jr. said the organization's focus groups found general consensus around prioritizing diversity and inclusion, but "the E triggered like all sorts of emotions and responses."

"You either loved it, you hated it," he said. "If it's so polarizing that people just abandon it, then we all lost."

Legal attacks against companies' diversity, equity and inclusion efforts have also drawn more attention following the Supreme Court's 2023 ruling to end affirmative action in college admissions. Many conservative and anti-DEI activists have been seeking to set a similar precedent in the working world.

"The blowback and the potential vulnerabilities are real," said Jen Stark, co-director of the Center for Business and Social Justice at BSR, a consulting network of more than 300 companies.

A vast majority of companies are "not taking the bait" and keeping policies in place "because it makes good business sense and it's also the right thing to do," she said. Still, she added, external pressures are building up.

The U.S. is also in a fraught presidential election year, with bubbling conversations about the prospect of Project 2025 — a term for the Heritage Foundation's nearly 1,000-page handbook for the next Republican administration, which has become a cudgel Democrats are wielding against former President Donald Trump.

• Top business headlines, all in one place

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.

That doesn't mean companies will stop their DEI efforts entirely, she added, but they may have to change language or find new workarounds.

"All these flash points that companies are, sort of, limping between is the new normal," she said.

AP Business Writer Lisa Leff in London contributed to this report.

—— Savage is a reporter on the women in the workforce team. The Associated Press' women in the workforce and state government coverage receives financial support from Pivotal Ventures. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP's standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.