Prominent farm and landscaping vehicle company John Deere has abandoned most of its "woke" corporate activitiesafter conservative backlash.
On July 9, conservative filmmaker Robby Starbuck exposed John Deere's engagement with LGBT activists by recognizing "preferred pronouns," providing gender identity training and sponsoring a "pride" event for children as young as three in a video posted on X. Starbuck also pointed out John Deere's total commitment" to the "diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) framework.
Starbuck urged his fans, especially customers and employees of John Deere, to speak out if they believed John Deere's values didn't align with theirs. He provided the company's email and corporate customer service number for those who wanted to voice out their displeasure.
As a response to this backlash, John Deere stressed its commitment to listening to feedback from its customers, employees and other key stakeholders on July 16.
"To best serve our customers and employees, Deere is always listening to feedback and looking for opportunities to improve," the company said in its official statement. "That’s why we consistently prioritize internal policies that more closely align our business strategy to meet the needs of our customers."
The company assured the public of discontinuing participation in or support for external social or cultural awareness parades, festivals or events; refocusing Business Resource Groups on professional development, networking, mentoring and talent recruitment efforts exclusively; conducting a company-wide audit to ensure the absence of socially motivated messages in all company-mandated training materials and policies; reaffirming that diversity quotas and pronoun identification are not and have never been company policy.
However, John Deere reiterated its belief in the value of a diverse workforce.
"We fundamentally believe that a diverse workforce enables us to best meet our customers' needs and because of that we will continue to track and advance the diversity of our organization."
1792 Exchange exposes more corporations with "woke" policies
John Deere's case is not isolated.
A nonprofit organization called the 1792 Exchange, which focuses on the dangers of ESG policies, launched a project to raise awareness about corporations that have adopted practices hostile to conservative customers and employees in 2023.
The group's latest Spotlight Report reviews the policies, practices, and other relevant criteria of over 1,000 companies to assess their likelihood of "canceling a contract or client, or boycotting, divesting or denying services based on views or beliefs." The report identifies 147 companies as "high risk," with Justin Haskins, director of the Heartland Institute's Socialism Research Center, spotlighting 51 egregious examples on Fox News.
He pointed out that numerous large banks are using their financial power to push business customers into adopting climate change policies, even when it necessitates significant changes to their business practices. Specifically, he noted that Bank of America evaluates its vendors based on their commitment to LGBTQ views and has ceased lending to some gun manufacturers. Additionally, the bank has provided funding to Planned Parenthood and the Southern Poverty Law Center, organizations known for their progressive stances.
Transportation companies have not been exempt from scrutiny. The 1792 Exchange identified five large transportation companies – Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Southwest Airlines, United Airlines, and XPO Logistics – as high risk. For instance, American Airlines publicly opposed the Florida Parental Rights in Education Act, and Southwest Airlines fought against state laws aimed at enhancing election integrity by limiting practices like mail-in balloting.
Retail giants have also come under the spotlight. Amazon, Best Buy, Chewy, eBay, Etsy, Home Depot, Kohl's, Macy's, Shopify, Target and Walmart are all categorized as high-risk. Examples from the report include Home Depot distributing flyers to employees about confronting various forms of privilege and Target removing books objected to by left-wing activists.
This project seeks to steer public companies in the United States back to a neutral stance on ideological issues, thereby best serving their shareholders and customers with integrity.
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