Target stores in Indiana can expect emptier aisles as a 40-day boycott is being encouraged amongst shoppers to protest against the company’s anti-DEI decisions.
Led by Atlanta Pastor Jamal Bryant, the boycott has shoppers use their wealth influence by refraining from spending money at Target from March 5, 2025 until April 17, 2025. Created in partnership with the Black Chamber of Commerce and Our Money United, the 40-day protest spans from the beginning of Lent, a religious period of fasting and prayer to celebrate the lead into Easter, until its end.
Investors are also being encouraged to sell Target stock if they own any. Instead, the NAACP is urging people to provide support to Black-owned businesses rather than large companies.
“We’re asking people to divest from Target because they have turned their back on our community,” said Bryant per CNN. “Black people spend upwards of $12 million dollars a day, and so we would expect some loyalty, some decency and some camaraderie.”
See below for the various days when the public is asked to avoid spending money.
— Shelly Tochluk (@shellytochluk) March 6, 2025
* 40-day Target boycott: March 5 to April 13
* 24-hour spending blackout: Feb. 28, March 28 and April 18
* Amazon Blackout: March 7 to 14
* Walmart Blackout: April 7 to 13https://t.co/PMHSQEn6s1 pic.twitter.com/680WdYu3RY
Late January, Target announced that it will join a number of American companies and scale back their DEI initiatives. Along with ending their pledge to expand the Black workforce by 20%, the company ended initiatives to support Black employees and removed their “supplier engagement” team which worked to bring Black-owned brands at the forefront of the company’s focus.
The announcement that they will be removing DEI programs came two days after President Donald Trump threatened an investigation into companies that have them amid his own federal upheaval by removing DEI hires.
Previously, Target had been a vocal supporter of DEI initiatives. Following the murder of George Floyd, the company pledged that they would spend over $2 billion with Black-owned businesses by the end of 2025, a promise that they have now broken. Target also vowed to add products from over 500 Black-owned stores and would donate $100 million to Black-led nonprofits and HBCU scholarships.
Along with the fact that its headquarters are based in Minneapolis, where Floyd was killed, the company was chosen as the first target of the boycott because of these previous pledges to DEI programs.
Further boycotts are planned for Nestle, Walmart and Amazon, with the latter taking effect today.
