Q&A: The pastor pushing back on anti-DEI in Trump's America

RICHMOND, Virginia - Jamal Bryant, senior pastor at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church outside of Atlanta, Georgia, helped spearhead a boycott of Target at the onset of Lent this year.

The move was a response to the U.S. retail giant's announcement it was pulling back on some of its diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives after President Donald Trump was elected.

Bryant has touted the effort as the most successful Black boycott in 70 years and is turning his attention to a pressure campaign against Dollar General, saying the low-cost retailer is not doing enough for people of colour.

In a statement, Dollar General pointed to its investments in literacy and education programmes and said it offers affordable prices "often in areas that other retailers have chosen not to serve."

Target's chief executive Brian Cornell this month wrote in Essence magazine, which is read by Black women, that the company is completing investments of $2 billion in Black-owned businesses and $100 million in Black-led community groups and that it has supported "thousands" of students at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs).

Target saw almost a 3% decline in its first-quarter net sales, with Cornell citing factors including inflation and lower consumer confidence in a call with investors in May.

Context spoke with Bryant by phone about the impact of consumer action and where DEI is headed.

To what extent do you consider the action against Target a success?

The valuation (of Target) has gone down by $12 billion, the stock has gone down (and) foot traffic is down ...  I think that's pretty impactful.

We never expected for it to go this long. It was just supposed to be 40 days from Ash Wednesday to Easter. We had no idea it would have a tailspin for national, real buy-in at the level that it has.

Target isn't the only corporation to back away from DEI efforts. Why them?

Because of the Black community's brand loyalty to Target. Black people were spending upwards of $12 million a day. And so we thought that because boycotts had not been common ... for this generation, that it'd be prudent to just go after one at a time.

Can you describe how your meeting with the Target CEO in April went?

It was a very good - cordial, I'll say - laying out what our demands and expectations were, and they sharing what their longstanding history has been towards diversity. Then we came into a stalemate after their CEO went and had a meeting at the White House with a couple of corporate execs.

One would think by this point that we would have covered more (ground). Regrettably, we have not. But the cash register is still speaking volumes on our behalf.

Is Target still on track toward fulfilling a $2 billion commitment for Black businesses?

That's what they claim, and we are saying lip service is not enough. We need receipts. Show us where and how and with whom it was spent. So just jumping up and announcing, 'We did it,' is not sufficient.

Target's on about 27 (college) campuses around the country - none of them are HBCUs. We (asked) them to partner with six HBCUs that they choose – we didn't even dictate what those are.

What specifically are you calling on people to do now in the Dollar General campaign?

Dollar General's a little bit different – we're asking people to register their concerns directly with the company, because Dollar General is strategically placed in food deserts where people don't have access to options – especially in rural areas.

So we're asking them to write, to email and to call, because if they don't (go), a lot of people, regrettably, in our community don't have access to other areas for produce.

What are some of the common misconceptions about DEI you've found yourself having to correct?

The common falsehood is that Black people are the leading beneficiaries. We are not. White women are. Second are Latinos. Third are (the physically challenged). Fourth are African Americans.

And so a lot of people in America believe that this has just been a Willy Wonka free ticket for Black people, and that's not true.

The most educated population in this country is Black women ... And with DEI being rolled back, those have been the number one casualties that have been laid off – I think somewhere in the orbit of 150,000 Black women.

Jesse Jackson used to say, 'The last hired and the first fired.' And we're seeing ourselves living that reality again.   

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

(Reporting by David Sherfinski; Editing by Anastasia Moloney and Ayla Jean Yackley.)