In late January, Target announced an end to its diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) program in response to external political pressures and as a preemptive measure to avoid potential legal or financial repercussions under the Trump administration’s executive orders cutting DEI from the federal government.
Now, in the season of Lent, Black faith leaders are calling for a 40-day “fast” from Target, urging people to boycott the retail giant to protest its caving to the federal government’s anti-diversity rhetoric. So far, more than 100,000 shoppers—many involved with Black churches—have joined the pledge to abstain from shopping at Target for 40 days. Target stock is already down 57 percent.
A handful of leaders including the Rev. Jamal Bryant, senior pastor of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Stonecrest, Ga., organized the fast to coincide with Lent—the traditional Christian season of giving things up for 40 days—while calling attention to Target’s end to DEI policies. The fast started on Ash Wednesday,March 5, and will continue until April 17, the Thursday before Easter.
“Lent is a sacred season of reflection, sacrifice, and renewal,” reads a statement on the website TargetFast.org. “In recent days, we have witnessed a disturbing retreat from Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives by major corporations—companies that once pledged to stand for justice but have since chosen the path of compromise. These rollbacks represent more than just corporate decisions; they reflect a deeper erosion of the moral and ethical commitments necessary to build a just society. As people of faith, we cannot be silent. We are called to resist systems that perpetuate exclusion and inequity.”
My brother, my sister, if our diversity is not good, our money isn’t good.
Bishop Reginald T. Jackson
Target joins other corporations like Walmart, Amazon and Meta in rolling back DEI initiatives.
Besides Target’s recent changes to DEI policies, the Target Fast is also protesting Target’s end to a program that had promised to spend more than $2 billion with Black-owned businesses by the end of 2025, adding products from 500 Black-owned vendors to stores, as well as supporting Black-led nonprofits and paying for scholarships for students at HBCUs.
Recently, Target ended its promise to increase its Black workforce by 20 percent and changed its “supplier diversity” team, which worked to bring in Black-owned product suppliers, to a vaguer, non-DEI-focused “supplier engagement” team. Target also said it would stop setting hiring and promotional goals for marginalized groups, including women, racial minorities and other underrepresented communities.
These changes have come as an unwelcome surprise to many shoppers who supported Target for its formerly progressive policies and programs, including in 2016 when the chain became the first major retailer to allow transgender employees and customers to use restrooms corresponding to their gender identities. Target also used to sell LGBTQ-related products during Pride month, but it pulled some of these products from stores in 2023 after backlash.
The Target Fast during Lent joins a number of other boycotts against the retail chain, including a boycott beginning on Feb. 1 that activists in Minnesota organized to correspond with Black History Month. Some Americans have also been participating in other forms of protest like economic blackouts and boycotts against corporations such as Amazon.
Black community leaders are especially asking Black Americans to avoid buying from Target. According to Bishop Reginald T. Jackson from the African Methodist Episcopal Church, quoted in CNN, “We’ve got to tell corporate America that there’s a consequence for turning your back on diversity. My brother, my sister, if our diversity is not good, our money isn’t good.”
Supporters can sign up online to learn more about the Target Fast and pledge their participation. According to a post from Bryant’s Instagram, when people sign up, they’ll be sent a list of 250,000 Black businesses to support instead of Target.
“This Lent, we will begin a corporate fast, starting with Target, as a spiritual act of resistance,” reads the Target Fast website. “Just as Jesus overturned the tables in the temple, challenging the exploitation and hypocrisy of his day, we too must disrupt business as usual. … By redirecting our resources toward businesses that uphold justice, we embody our commitment to God’s vision of equity and love in action.”
