Target built trust and business by pledging support for racial equity. But when the company walked back those commitments earlier this year, some Minnesotans decided it was time to walk away.
Transcript
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HOST: You're listening to North Star Stories: Voices from Where We Live, a daily newscast about what it means to live in Minnesota.
ANCHOR: Coming up, voters in northern Minnesota are back at the polling stations. Communities around the state upset about a retailer's DEI decision respond by showing the power of the purse. And a warning about consuming fish from some Minnesota waters. I'm Chantel SinGs.
Voters in Northern Minnesota will decide tomorrow who will fill disgraced Senator Justin Eichorn's vacant seat. Eichorn, a Republican from Grand Rapids, resigned in March after being arrested in a prostitution sting in Bloomington. He pleaded not guilty last week in a federal arraignment hearing. Republican Keri Heintzeman [Heintz-man], a business owner from Nisswa [niss-wah], and Democrat Denise Slipy [SLY-pee], an environmental health professional from Breezy Point, are competing for the position. Heintzeman won her party's primary. The winner will serve the remainder of Eichorn's term. The next regular election is scheduled for 2026.
Coming up, Target built trust and business by pledging support for racial equity. But when the company walked back those commitments earlier this year, some Minnesotans decided it was time to walk away. Reporter Xan Holston has more.
Xan Holston
When Target announced in January it was ending its diversity, equity and inclusion policies, some local activists said it felt like a slap in the face. Comedian and radio host Sheletta Brundidge put it this way—
Sheletta Brundidge
We all old enough now to be able to look back and say we've been in a situation where somebody told us they love us, but they really didn't, and Target has shown us that they really didn't love us, like they said they did.
Xan Holston
After the murder of George Floyd in 2020, Target positioned itself as a corporate leader in racial equity. It pledged 10 million to social justice initiatives and committed to spending more than $2 billion with black-owned businesses by 2025. To Target CEO Brian Cornell, these moves weren't just about values. They were good business. Speaking in 2023 on Fortune Magazine's leadership next podcast, Cornell said—
Brian Cornell
The things we've done, from a DEI standpoint, it's adding value, it's helping us drive sales, it's building greater engagement with both our teams and our guests. And those are just the right things for our business today.
Xan Holston
So when the company walked back its DEI commitments, the reversal felt especially Stark. Let's welcome Sheletta.
Sheletta Brundidge
Target's announcement immediately sparked a boycott, which is why we have to make our voices heard now. We have to create lasting change, and we have to stop shopping at Target.
Xan Holston
For Brundidge this isn't just about consumer choices. It's about accountability. She says if a company builds its brand and profits on the loyalty of black communities, walking away from civil rights commitments isn't just disappointing, it's exploitative.
Sheletta Brundidge
They benefit too much from black dollars. They benefit too much from black shoppers, black creative workers who helped them, you know, develop campaigns.
Xan Holston
The boycott might just be working. Target's quarterly earnings report is due in early May, but their stock has been losing value for months, and recent reporting suggests in-store foot traffic is down as well. North Star stories reached out to Target who declined to comment. While some protesters are redirecting their spending to Costco, where shareholders recently reaffirmed support for DEI, others like Margaret Sullivan are thinking even more locally.
Margaret Sullivan
Why would we put that money into another large, you know, corporation? Why don't we put that money into actual small businesses in our community?
Xan Holston
Sullivan, an education lobbyist, started a Facebook "buy-cott," a campaign encouraging people to intentionally support local, black-owned businesses.
Margaret Sullivan
Support can mean not only just buying something, but actually like promoting their services to other people.
Xan Holston
For Sullivan, the goal is to build something more than a lasting boycott, something that strengthens the ecosystem for black entrepreneurs.
Xan Holston
You know, a part of it is obviously supporting them financially, but how do we also give them like professional development so they can grow and they can network and find more resources?
Xan Holston
For North Star Stories, I'm Xan Holston.
ANCHOR
You are listening to North Star Stories.
The Minnesota Department of Health is warning people in 10 Minnesota counties not to eat locally caught fish. The warning is due to high levels of P-F-A-S, harmful manmade chemicals. MDH now recommends that everyone limit their consumption of locally caught fish, not just pregnant women or children. The chemicals can build up in the body and are linked to many health issues, especially for children. The contaminated fish are found in six Metro-counties and four in Greater Minnesota. More information, including the counties affected, is online at health dot state dot m-n dot u-s.
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HOST: North Star Stories is produced by AMPERS, diverse radio for Minnesota's communities, with support from the McKnight Foundation and the State of Minnesota. Online at ampers dot org.