April 18, 2025
Rev Al Sharpton called the meeting with Cornell “constructive and candid.”
Target’s Chief Executive Officer, Brian Cornell, met with activist Rev. Al Sharpton in New York. The April 17 meeting was called as the big-name retailer continues to face heavy backlash and calls for boycotts after rolling back its Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiatives earlier this year.
According to CNBC, Cornell initially requested the meeting in response to civil rights groups calling for a large-scale boycott of the company. In response to Target’s cutback on its DEI initiatives, people are now urging consumers to spend their money elsewhere.
Sharpton echoed these sentiments in an interview with CNBC ahead of his sit-down with Cornell.
Sharpton said, “You can’t have an election come and all of a sudden, change your old positions. If an election determines your commitment to fairness, then fine, you have a right to withdraw from us, but then we have a right to withdraw from you.”
The civil rights leader stated in no uncertain terms that he would consider calling for a boycott on Target as well if the meeting with Cornell did not prove productive.
He asked the CEO to confirm the company’s commitment to the Black community and to pledge to work with Black-owned businesses in the future.
Sharpton continued, “I said, ‘If [Cornell] wants to have a candid meeting, we’ll meet. I want to first hear what he has to say.”
Following Sharpton and Cornell’s initial meeting, Sharpton called it a “constructive and candid” conversation.
“I am going to inform our allies, including Rev. Dr. Jamal Bryant, of our discussion and what my feelings are, and we will go from there.”
Target is one of many retail juggernauts that have eliminated their diversity policies this year: a list that includes Walmart, Amazon, and PepsiCo.
Cornell made this change to Target after Trump moved into office this year. One of his first acts as president included moving to end diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) Programs within the federal government.
It triggered a ripple effect in the retail world, with Target and others implementing policies aimed at bolstering diversity among their employees and reducing inequities against members of minority groups.
Target officially ended its three-year-long DEI goals in January, and Cornell will no longer send company reports and data to external diversity-focused groups such as the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Index.
Since the announcement, Cornell’s stores have experienced a decline in traffic and sales at Target locations across the nation.
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