Amazon has quietly removed commitments to protecting the rights of Black and LGBTQ people from its publicly listed corporate policies. This change comes as part of broader corporate rollbacks of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs, seemingly aligning with the GOP’s far right agenda and signaling a disregard for the safety of marginalized communities ahead of Donald Trump’s inauguration later this month.
President-elect Donald Trump has been an outspoken critic of DEI programs and recently appointed Stephen Miller, founder of America First Legal Foundation — a group that actively opposes corporate DEI initiatives — as his deputy chief of staff for policy. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has donated $1 million to Trump’s inaugural committee.
In a December 16, 2024 memo to employees, Candi Castleberry, Amazon’s vice president of Inclusive Experiences and Technology, announced that the company would also be phasing out “outdated programs and materials” as part of a comprehensive review of hundreds of company initiatives, which includes scaling back some of its diversity and inclusion efforts.
“Seeing DEI being rolled back so aggressively by so many companies is jarring,” LGBTQ legislative researcher Allison Chapman told Truthout. “While I have always believed that we are not going to be saved by rainbow capitalism, it is shocking how quickly years of work have been erased, even before Trump takes office.”
This decision by Amazon reflects a broader trend of companies retreating from their DEI commitments. Recently, Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, joined John Deere, Harley Davidson, Walmart and McDonald’s in curtailing its DEI initiatives.
Meta is also currently facing backlash from LGBTQ groups for ending its third-party fact-checking program and reducing its enforcement of policies on hate speech and abuse. “In one week, [Meta has] dismantled an entire history of brand-safety best practices, consumer trust, and most importantly, user safety. These changes will harm users and make Meta’s platforms unsafe for everyone,” GLAAD President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis said in a statement on Meta’s policy changes. “Meta is now an anti-LGBTQ company.”
Apple, meanwhile, has taken a different approach. The company is currently urging shareholders to vote against a proposal to eliminate its DEI programs brought by the National Center for Public Policy Research, a conservative think tank, which is arguing that DEI efforts expose companies to “litigation, reputational, and financial risks.”
Despite efforts by conservative activists and groups like the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty to undermine DEI programs through boycotts and legal challenges, compliance with DEI principles actually helps organizations align with anti-discrimination laws, thereby minimizing the risk of legal disputes. Companies like Starbucks and McDonald’s implemented DEI initiatives following high-profile incidents of racial bias in an attempt to address potential legal and reputational liabilities. On the other hand, eliminating or scaling back DEI programs often results in significant reputational damage and financial losses for organizations.
In a notice to shareholders, Apple’s board advised investors to vote against the proposal, stating that the company already has appropriate compliance procedures in place to address potential risks. The board said that the anti-DEI proposal “inappropriately attempts to restrict Apple’s ability to manage its own ordinary business operations, people and teams, and business strategies.”
“Unfortunately, I expect Apple to be the outlier and not the norm as I suspect we will see more and more companies dropping their DEI initiatives,” Chapman told Truthout.
The anti-DEI proposal is scheduled for a vote at Apple’s annual general meeting on February 25.
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