MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Target once touted its commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion, a promise that seemed particularly important to a company headquartered in the city where the police killing of George Floyd set off a wave of protests around the world. But now, with DEI initiatives under attack by the Trump White House, the company - along with others - says it is winding down these programs, and that is prompting calls for a boycott from activists and influencers like Angela Artis.
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ANGELA ARTIS: I was a Target shopper, but I am not anymore. Until they reinstate their DEI program, I will not be shopping there, and I hope you don't, too.
MARTIN: But some Black business owners who sell their products at Target say the move would hurt them the most. One of them is April Showers, founder and CEO of Afro Unicorn, a character-driven brand based around a Black unicorn.
When you heard that these companies were winding down their DEI initiatives or whatever they called it, what do you think?
APRIL SHOWERS: Initially, I wasn't that surprised, only because of the administration that we're under. I was disappointed, to say the least. But I had been disappointed for some time because I saw it winding down. I saw that the care for diversity, equity and inclusion after George Floyd was really only around for a solid 18 months. So to hear these companies say that they were rolling back, I wasn't surprised, but I was disappointed, if that makes sense.
MARTIN: Have you seen any impact on your business of these - either the sort of call to wind down the DEI initiatives or these calls for a boycott? Have you seen any fall off in sales or any impact on your sales?
SHOWERS: Not yet, but this is - we're so early right now. Literally, I think a lot of the frustration, too, from the buyers is that the day that this came out, it was one day or two days before the set of the Black History Month program in Target. So these products just hit the floors this week.
MARTIN: As a vendor, as a supplier, you can't just boycott the retailer. Could you just say, as briefly as you can, why that's not so easy for you? Like, for a consumer, you can just say, well, you know, I'm not going to buy that, or I'm not going to shop there. But as a vendor, you can't do that.
SHOWERS: Well, I think what it is, is people are asking us to take our products out of the stores.
MARTIN: Right.
SHOWERS: So that's the part that we cannot easily do. And we wouldn't want to just take our products out of the stores because there are thousands of people that walk these aisles every day. Our direct-to-consumer business does exist, but the eyeballs that we get by having your products in stores does not even compare.
MARTIN: Some of these companies made a really big deal out of their DEI initiatives. Is there any part of you that feels betrayed that now that they say they're winding them down or walking them back for whatever reason?
SHOWERS: Not at all. I feel thankful for the opportunity. Giving me that shelf space is basically giving me another business. What I feel betrayed by are people saying that these products that I made for them, that they're not going to support them. That's the betrayal.
MARTIN: And because?
SHOWERS: Because these products were made for them in mind. They were created because before there were no brown unicorns. You could not see yourselves in these particular products. And then you make these products, and then the ones that you make them with them in mind say that they're not going to support it. That's the betrayal.
MARTIN: Well, what do you say to people who say, look, these companies take a lot of our money. We are tired of being bullied by these companies. We want to be respected as consumers, and this is the only way that they can get their points across? I mean, look, one of the signature events of the civil rights movement was the Montgomery bus boycott. Boycotts have a storied history in American history and international events. And so what do you say to people who say this is a time-honored tactic?
SHOWERS: And people can do what they want and purchase where they want to purchase. We're saying if you do want to purchase our product and you still want to support us in these retailer stores, you can walk into these stores and purchase our products only and walk out. Those numbers will still hurt.
MARTIN: So it is complicated.
SHOWERS: It's very complicated. And I hate the fact that we are fighting about how to support Black businesses. We have a man in leadership who has this attack on words like diversity, equity and inclusion. So many people are missing that - why do people even care so strongly and passionately that we should not be diverse, there should not be equity and there should not be any inclusion?
MARTIN: That is April Showers. She's the founder and CEO of Afro Unicorn. It's a character-driven brand that sells, like, fashion and toys and puzzles and so forth, and she sells at Target and Walmart. April Showers, thanks so much for talking with us.
SHOWERS: Thank you for having me, Michel. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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