In Canada, several major corporations, including Walmart, Starbucks and Ford Motor Company, have moved away from diversity, equity, and inclusion (“DEI”) practices in 2024.

Walmart announced sweeping changes to its DEI policies, including erasing DEI-related terminology, ending DEI training programmes and shifting away from prioritising under-represented groups in hiring practices.

Research by the Network Contagion Research Institute and Rutgers University’s Social Perception Lab found that DEI practices can “engender a hostile attribution bias” and “heighten racial suspicion,” potentially fostering division rather than inclusion. 

In other words, as any thinking person already instinctively knew, DEI does exactly the opposite of what its proponents claimed it was supposed to do.  It now seems major corporations in Canada have figured that out. And “as we welcome the arrival of 2025, it seems pretty clear that ‘woke’ ideology is on its way out,” Christie Pritchard writes.

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The following is taken from page 1 of Druthers Issue #50, January 2025.  We have not made any edits, including converting from American to British English, removing Oxford commas or changing other typographic preferences.

Druthers is a monthly, free, independent, people-powered Canadian newspaper.  Printed copies are distributed throughout Canada and they are also available for reading online.

The End of “Woke” Ideology

By Christie Pritchard

The end of 2024 saw a huge shift in the fight against identity politics – many of the world’s most influential businesses and academic institutions moved away from Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives in droves. In the biggest score of the year, one of the most recent companies to drop out of DEI “wokeness” was Walmart – the world’s largest private employer with over 1.7 million employees across the United States (US) and Canada. They announced the following sweeping changes to their DEI policies and practices:

• Erasing DEI-related terminology, such as gender-neutral language, from official communications.
• Replacing the term “DEI” with “belonging” in its corporate language.
• Ending DEI training programs previously offered to employees through the Racial Equity Institute.
• Shifting away from prioritizing underrepresented groups in hiring practices.
• Ceasing the prioritization of underrepresented groups in supplier selection.
• Establishing stricter guidelines for involvement in community events, such as drag shows and Pride celebrations.
• Stopping data sharing with the Human Rights Campaign, a nonprofit organization that tracks corporate LGBTQ+ policies.
• Discontinuing the sale of Pride-themed products marketed to children.
• Opting not to renew the Center for Racial Equity, a Walmart-created organization backed by a $100 million philanthropic commitment to address systemic inequalities affecting Black communities.

“We’ve been on a journey and know we aren’t perfect, but every decision comes from a place of wanting to foster a sense of belonging, to open doors to opportunities for all our associates, customers and suppliers and to be a Walmart for everyone,” the company announced in a statement delivered at the start of the 2024 Christmas shopping season.

A Growing Trend

While Walmart is the most significant example, it is far from the only company purging DEI practices from its policies. Other major corporations making similar moves include Starbucks, Boeing, Toyota, Molson Coors, Deere & Company, SalesForce, Duolingo, Tractor Supply, John Deere, Lowe’s, Brown-Forman (Jack Daniel’s), Jet Blue, Bud Light, Target, and Ford Motor Company.

This is a drastic change considering how much corporate America has embraced DEI in recent years. A 2022 report by ReportLinker estimated global spending on DEI at $7.5 billion in 2020 and projected it to reach $17.2 billion by 2027. That projection now seems increasingly unlikely.

This corporate shift follows a Supreme Court decision in June 2023 that struck down affirmative action in college admissions, sparking legal and cultural challenges to race and gender-based programs. Dozens of lawsuits have been filed against employers for DEI initiatives, targeting diversity hiring practices and mentorship programs that plaintiffs argue prioritize specific demographics while excluding others.

Since 2023, 81 anti-DEI bills that target programs at colleges have been introduced in 28 states and in Congress, according to a tally by the Chronicle of Higher Education. Eight have been signed into law.

The Research

Critics of DEI initiatives have long argued that such programs inadvertently foster division rather than inclusion. A 2024 study by Ontario academic David Haskell, which examined hundreds of experiments, found that DEI training often exacerbates workplace tensions, creating more hostility rather than reducing it. Similarly, a 2021 article in the Annual Review of Psychology expressed disappointment over the lack of evidence supporting the effectiveness of diversity training.

However, perhaps the most groundbreaking research is the one that was published by the Network Contagion Research Institute (NCRI) and Rutgers University’s Social Perception Lab. They found that when they exposed participants to DEI practices, it “engendered a hostile attribution bias … and heightened racial suspicion … Amplifying perceptions of prejudicial hostility where none was present.” (Jagdeep et al.)

This is huge considering, according to PEW Research and Express Employment Professionals, 40% of Canadian and 52% of American workers undergo some form of DEI training.

Here’s an example from the study: The researchers presented people with a race-neutral scenario about a student applying to an elite university. The student was interviewed and subsequently rejected. Despite having no evidence for it, participants primed with DEI materials perceived more discrimination and microaggressions. In fact, they were also 12% more willing to suspend the admission officer for a semester, 16% more willing to demand a public apology to the applicant, and 12% more willing to require additional DEI training to correct the officer. This study found similar results for content about Islamophobia and Hindu caste discrimination. In one shocking scenario, DEI training material made people 27%-35% more willing to agree with Hitler’s quotes that substituted “Jew” with “Brahmin” (the highest rung in the Indian caste system.) Overall, participants who read material from Equality Labs training were more than 30% more likely to perceive bias & harm where none existed.

Silence In The News

Despite the provocative findings, the study’s coverage has been polarizing. Independent and right-leaning media outlets have widely reported on it, while mainstream outlets have largely ignored or suppressed the story. As an NCRI researcher told National Review, “Unfortunately, both publications [New York Times and Bloomberg News] jumped on the story enthusiastically only for it to be inexplicably pulled at the highest editorial levels. This has never happened to the NCRI in its 5-year history.”

This silence is notable given NCRI’s reputation as a respected organization dedicated to combating hate.

While it’s doubtful that these companies experienced a genuine change of heart – and more likely, they are scaling back DEI initiatives to broaden their consumer appeal and sidestep legal or social backlash – the widespread rollback of these programs marks a positive shift. DEI initiatives have been built on unproven theories, lacked meaningful oversight, and appear to unintentionally widen divides by perpetuating stereotypes and fostering resentment instead of fostering genuine inclusivity.

Ultimately, any approach rooted in discrimination – whether based on race, gender, or other factors – cannot be a solution to the very problems of division and discrimination it seeks to address. True progress will come by uniting us all as humans rather than dividing us by our demographics. As we welcome the arrival of 2025, it seems pretty clear that “woke” ideology is on its way out.

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While previously it was a hobby culminating in writing articles for Wikipedia (until things made a drastic and undeniable turn in 2020) and a few books for private consumption, since March 2020 I have become a full-time researcher and writer in reaction to the global takeover that came into full view with the introduction of covid-19. For most of my life, I have tried to raise awareness that a small group of people planned to take over the world for their own benefit. There was no way I was going to sit back quietly and simply let them do it once they made their final move.

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