Rev. Al Sharpton on Monday announced a boycott of companies eliminating diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs, saying the effort will be in the spirit of the late civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr.
Speaking from the Metropolitan AME Church, Sharpton said his organization, the National Action Network, is calling upon all Americans, regardless of their race or gender, to boycott companies that will no longer support DEI.
“Why do we have DEI? We have DEI because you denied us diversity, you denied us equity, you denied us inclusion. DEI was a remedy to the racial institutionalized bigotry practice in academia and in these corporations. Now, if you want to put us back in the back of the bus, we gonna do the Dr. King-Rosa Parks on you,” Sharpton said as those gathered cheered.
