Target Boycott Continues as Metro Atlanta Town Hall Calls for Full-Scale Shutdown of Retailer

Target continues to feel the heat from rolling back its DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) policies. In a recent town hall held in Metro Atlanta, a pastor made headlines when he called upon the attendees to take the boycott a step further than usual. Let’s take a look at this latest development.

Pastor Dr. Jamal Bryant Doesn’t Want People To Take Their Foot Off Target’s Neck

According to WSB-TV, Pastor Dr. Jamal Bryant of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church asked for a spiritual fast in regards to the retailer in March during Lent, which ended on Easter. However, he informed those who attended the town hall that the boycott will continue.

Bryant pointed people to a proprietary website called “Target Fast,” which pointed out that the retailer lost $2 billion and its stock dropped by almost 60% since the boycott first kicked off. Still, according to Bryant, the plan is to keep going.

“We didn’t ask Target to make a promise to Black people, they did it of their own will,” he said. “We are engaged in this battle because you don’t get to walk away from your public commitments to Black people and think there will not be consequences and repercussions.”

He continued: “I still firmly believe that our dollars can’t be taken for granted, and so until we are able to reach common ground, we’re going to stay off Target’s ground.”

And the people in attendance seemed to agree.

“Personally, I don’t want to go back,” said Nikki Porcher, who founded the organization Buy From a Black Woman. “I don’t think we should go back to Target. We are the economy. We are the ones supplying this country. When it comes to Black people, comes to Black business, we do the trends, we do the culture, we do the climate, we do it all.”

Target CEO Met With Rev. Al Sharpton

In an effort to stave off the ongoing bad publicity surrounding the DEI rollback, the company’s CEO recently met with the Rev. Al Sharpton to try to come to an understanding.

The pair, who met at the CEO’s request, were to discuss the company’s DEI stance and commitment to the Black community.

Sharpton has launched protest campaigns against firms that have scaled back their DEI initiatives in the past, prompting these companies to reconsider and, in some cases, reinstate them.

Although Sharpton has not declared a formal boycott of Target, he has supported previous initiatives encouraging shoppers to avoid the business, according to CNBC.

“You can’t have an election come and all of a sudden, change your old positions,” Sharpton told the outlet in an interview before the meeting. “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.”

He also threatened to boycott Target if the corporation did not reaffirm its support for the Black community and commit to partnering with and investing in Black-owned businesses.

According to Fox News, Sharpton described his chat with Cornell as “very constructive and candid,” and he vowed to “inform our allies, including Rev. Dr. Jamal Bryant, of our discussion, what my feelings are, and we will go from there.”

Black spiritual leaders originally called for a boycott of Target in March, at the start of Lent.

“We’ve got to tell corporate America that there’s a consequence for turning their back on diversity,” said Bishop Reginald T. Jackson at the time. “So let us send the message that if corporate America can’t stand with us, we’re not going to stand with corporate America.”