The Rev. Al Sharpton calls meeting with Target CEO over DEI rollbacks ‘constructive’

Target CEO Brian Cornell met with civil rights leader the Rev. Al Sharpton on Thursday in New York to discuss the retailer’s decision to retreat from its diversity efforts.

Sharpton called the meeting “very constructive and candid” in a statement provided by the National Action Network.

Target declined to comment on what the two discussed. The Minneapolis-based retailer said it requested the meeting, which took place as activists continued to urge a boycott of Target.

The meeting also came after 10 consecutive weeks of reduced foot traffic, year over year, at the retailer.

“I am going to inform our allies, including Rev. Dr. Jamal Bryant, of our discussion, what my feelings are, and we will go from there,” Sharpton said in the statement.

Bryant, an Atlanta-area pastor, organized a website called targetfast.org to recruit Christians for a 40-day Target boycott. Other faith leaders endorsed the protest, which started March 5 at the beginning of Lent.

The boycott effort began in Minneapolis in response to the company’s decision in late January to pull back its diversity, equity and inclusion commitments.

Target said it would stop participating in outside surveys regarding DEI, shift its “supplier diversity” programs to “supplier engagement” and end its three-year DEI goals and its Racial Equity Action and Change (REACH) initiatives in 2025.

The retailer also said it would re-evaluate corporate partnerships “to ensure they are directly connected to our roadmap for growth.”

Nekima Levy Armstrong, one of the local activists who originally called for the boycott, said the meeting between Cornell and Sharpton was an attempt to “control the narrative.”

“It’s unclear to us as Twin Cities organizers why Target CEO Brian Cornell would call for a meeting with the Reverend Al Sharpton given the fact that Sharpton has absolutely zero involvement in the Target boycott,” Levy Armstrong said.

She also suggested the decision reflects who Target thinks has power over the Black community and undermines the efforts of local activists. Neither she nor Jaylani Hussein or Monique Cullars-Doty — who both played a role in the meeting outside Target’s headquarters — have been contacted by the retailer, Levy Armstrong said.

The three organizers have said they believe that President Donald Trump’s decision to end federal DEI programs put pressure on Target and other companies, adding that Target “cowered” by undoing its own efforts.

“I don’t have confidence the meeting will change anything because Sharpton never called for a boycott to begin with,” Levy Armstrong said.

She said she believes the boycotts are affecting Target and have sparked several other economic boycotts against companies that have trimmed their DEI efforts.