The National Black Farmers Association is calling on Tractor Supply’s president and CEO to step down, days after the rural retailer announced that it would drop most of its corporate diversity and climate advocacy efforts.
The National Black Farmers Association called on Tractor Supply’s president and CEO Tuesday to step down after the rural retailer announced that it would drop most of its corporate diversity and climate advocacy efforts.
The resignation demand emerged as Tractor Supply, which sells products ranging from farming equipment to pet supplies, faces a deepening backlash over its decision, which itself came after conservative activists spoke out against the company’s work to be more socially inclusive and to curb climate change.
In a public announcement last week, the company said it would eliminate all of its diversity, equity and inclusion roles, end sponsorships of “nonbusiness activities” like Pride festivals, and withdraw its goals for reducing carbon emissions. Critics of the new position argue that Tractor Supply is giving in to hate and harming its customers by abandoning crucial principles.
Just so y'all are aware they moved to Yuengling beer as the choice of racists and bigoted people. So please don't buy it unless you really really don't give a fuck about CEOs mocking boycotts.
I was in Texas for my first time ever and had my first ever Yeungling (it isn't available where I live). I didn't know it was now the choice for the bigots. But I do know: it's really not a great beer.
Neither is Bud (/Light), but at least that doesn't taste like a malty homebrew.
In many rural areas it's not though. Tractor Supply might be the only feed store for miles, and I don't mean go 5 miles to the next town. I mean it's over a hundred to the next closest feed store, which happens to be another tractor supply.
Is that your situation? I live pretty rural, but there's a Walmart, Lowe's, or home depot pretty much the same distance as tractor supply, and that's probably the situation for most of the US. I also buy online. Mom and pop feed stores are all over the place.
Thinking about this more, I just don't think it's true. I can't find a spot on Google maps where tractor supply is the only store for miles. In America, you can drive to many shitty corporations to buy stuff, no matter where in America you are.
Most of the programs exist to avoid lawsuits. They don't actually help much of anything. And before people jump down my throat I'm not against the idea of what DEI claims to fix in corporate America. I just know from the level I've worked at multiple companies that leadership doesn't really care. DEI is another box to check for the shareholders to feel good about themselves.
So tl;dr DEI is mostly pointless. Leadership allows people to talk about DEI because talk is cheap and ineffectual. But they shit their pants of we try to unionize and force change. So stop focusing on DEI and start focusing on unionization.