Tractor Supply Ditches DEI, Climate Goals After Online Attacks
June 28, 2024 6:51 AM Subscribe
Bloomberg article "We work hard to live up to our Mission and Values every day and represent the values of the communities and customers we serve. We have heard from customers that we have disappointed them. We have taken this feedback to heart."
"Going forward, we will ensure our activities and giving tie directly to our business. For instance, this means we will:
1. No longer submit data to the Human Rights Campaign
2. Refocus our Team Member Engagement Groups on mentoring, networking and supporting the business
3. Further focus on rural America priorities including ag education, animal welfare, veteran causes and being a good neighbor and stop sponsoring nonbusiness activities like pride festivals and voting campaigns
4. Eliminate DEI roles and retire our current DEI goals while still ensuring a respectful environment
5. Withdraw our carbon emission goals and focus on our land and water conservation efforts"
This is the company that owns PetSense.
Apparently this is a product of a campaign on Twitter by "Robby Starbuck" brought about via the company's webpage comment field.
"Going forward, we will ensure our activities and giving tie directly to our business. For instance, this means we will:
1. No longer submit data to the Human Rights Campaign
2. Refocus our Team Member Engagement Groups on mentoring, networking and supporting the business
3. Further focus on rural America priorities including ag education, animal welfare, veteran causes and being a good neighbor and stop sponsoring nonbusiness activities like pride festivals and voting campaigns
4. Eliminate DEI roles and retire our current DEI goals while still ensuring a respectful environment
5. Withdraw our carbon emission goals and focus on our land and water conservation efforts"
This is the company that owns PetSense.
Apparently this is a product of a campaign on Twitter by "Robby Starbuck" brought about via the company's webpage comment field.
Apparently this is a product of a campaign on Twitter by "Robby Starbuck" brought about via the company's webpage comment field.
Well, then, there's how to fight back.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:54 AM on June 28 [8 favorites]
Well, then, there's how to fight back.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:54 AM on June 28 [8 favorites]
chuckles_im_in_danger.gif
posted by an octopus IRL at 7:04 AM on June 28 [5 favorites]
posted by an octopus IRL at 7:04 AM on June 28 [5 favorites]
A car parts retailer that I used to work for may be in the midst of quiet quitting its DEI efforts as well. From what I've heard from folks that still work there, DEI took the blame of several years of poor company revenues.
posted by NoMich at 7:05 AM on June 28 [4 favorites]
posted by NoMich at 7:05 AM on June 28 [4 favorites]
I suspect everyone here knows this but this isn't just about this specific company, this is part of a coordinated campaign to make supporting marginalized communities (including the queer community, of which I am a part) toxic as an attempt to assert dominance and in some cases drive us out of public life. I don't really care that much about what Tractor Supply does (although I'm sure other people do) but every time someone makes a big public announcement about how they are stepping back from DEI initiatives and similar it is both a cause and a symptom of an increasingly hostile and dangerous world.
posted by an octopus IRL at 7:10 AM on June 28 [73 favorites]
posted by an octopus IRL at 7:10 AM on June 28 [73 favorites]
“ From what I've heard from folks that still work there, DEI took the blame of several years of poor company revenues.”
My experience is that many firms have been struggling. “Woke” is probably not the reason why, but is an easy excuse you can pull off the shelf to keep from having to actually look at root causes.
And Countess Elena, you might look around for a local store that has what you need. And of course there’s always Chewy. I’m in Eastern Oregon and have a couple more choices for what I need, locally owned and competitively priced. Ask your neighbors.
posted by cybrcamper at 7:14 AM on June 28 [7 favorites]
My experience is that many firms have been struggling. “Woke” is probably not the reason why, but is an easy excuse you can pull off the shelf to keep from having to actually look at root causes.
And Countess Elena, you might look around for a local store that has what you need. And of course there’s always Chewy. I’m in Eastern Oregon and have a couple more choices for what I need, locally owned and competitively priced. Ask your neighbors.
posted by cybrcamper at 7:14 AM on June 28 [7 favorites]
"I suspect everyone here knows this but this isn't just about this specific company, this is part of a coordinated campaign to make supporting marginalized communities (including the queer community, of which I am a part) toxic as an attempt to assert dominance and in some cases drive us out of public life. "
Yeah, it's the same kind of thing they did with Target, organizing a literal bunch of flying monkeys to spam the comment pages. What can I say, its Twitter, home of Catturd. Now me OTOH, I am in favor of the direct approach, and I have had a frequent shoppers account with them for a few years now. I called this morning and requested its deletion, citing the press release. The person on the line was kind in her tone, expressed her respect, and I did the same, while explaining that I just could not continue to spend money with someone who did business that way. I have a feeling that will show up in a more effective manner than the comment page... corporate management team is likely thinking their customer base (their abstract idea of it anyhow) is into right wing stuff anyhow and decided to align with them. I now represent a real loss of business, rather than a potential one.
posted by cybrcamper at 7:26 AM on June 28 [42 favorites]
Yeah, it's the same kind of thing they did with Target, organizing a literal bunch of flying monkeys to spam the comment pages. What can I say, its Twitter, home of Catturd. Now me OTOH, I am in favor of the direct approach, and I have had a frequent shoppers account with them for a few years now. I called this morning and requested its deletion, citing the press release. The person on the line was kind in her tone, expressed her respect, and I did the same, while explaining that I just could not continue to spend money with someone who did business that way. I have a feeling that will show up in a more effective manner than the comment page... corporate management team is likely thinking their customer base (their abstract idea of it anyhow) is into right wing stuff anyhow and decided to align with them. I now represent a real loss of business, rather than a potential one.
posted by cybrcamper at 7:26 AM on June 28 [42 favorites]
Cybercamper makes a great point. I've shopped there in the past and they have my phone number on files from years ago. I'm guessing that makes me a member. I too shall call and ask that they remove me and I'll cite that they've moved away from climate goals and making the world less hateful for folks.
posted by DB_S at 7:38 AM on June 28 [13 favorites]
posted by DB_S at 7:38 AM on June 28 [13 favorites]
I'm so tired of the bad guys winning so easily all the goddamn time.
posted by aramaic at 7:45 AM on June 28 [27 favorites]
posted by aramaic at 7:45 AM on June 28 [27 favorites]
I'm so tired of the bad guys winning so easily all the goddamn time.
DEI initiatives are explicitly things that happened because companies perceived that is what shareholders and customers wanted. The second that they think otherwise it goes away. CEO's 100% lack the spine to stand up to nearly anybody if they think even one dollar will be lost.
posted by Dr. Twist at 8:17 AM on June 28 [17 favorites]
DEI initiatives are explicitly things that happened because companies perceived that is what shareholders and customers wanted. The second that they think otherwise it goes away. CEO's 100% lack the spine to stand up to nearly anybody if they think even one dollar will be lost.
posted by Dr. Twist at 8:17 AM on June 28 [17 favorites]
I'm particularly entertained by the way the company is leaning into land and water conservation by increasing their contribution to climate change.
posted by suelac at 8:24 AM on June 28 [9 favorites]
posted by suelac at 8:24 AM on June 28 [9 favorites]
I will never understand why so many people are so rigidly adverse to just the idea of trying to be a decent person. I guess I just wasn't made for these times.
posted by spilon at 8:30 AM on June 28 [16 favorites]
posted by spilon at 8:30 AM on June 28 [16 favorites]
I will never understand why so many people are so rigidly adverse ...
Fragile self-identity.
No, I'm actually serious -- I genuinely suspect that quite a lot of people have a VERY fragile sense of identity and worth, so that anything that makes them question their own actions and motivations is understood as an attack upon their person that must be resisted in any way possible.
...and thus, they spend their days bot-spamming companies, ranting on Facebook, and so on, because someone somewhere had the gall to imply (somehow) that they may not actually be an entirely perfect person wrought from the very tears of God. They are perfect, people like them are perfect, and people not like them are bad and terrible since they imply the possibility that they may not in fact be perfect.
Now, having said that, I have absolutely no idea WTF to do about it.
posted by aramaic at 8:51 AM on June 28 [16 favorites]
Fragile self-identity.
No, I'm actually serious -- I genuinely suspect that quite a lot of people have a VERY fragile sense of identity and worth, so that anything that makes them question their own actions and motivations is understood as an attack upon their person that must be resisted in any way possible.
...and thus, they spend their days bot-spamming companies, ranting on Facebook, and so on, because someone somewhere had the gall to imply (somehow) that they may not actually be an entirely perfect person wrought from the very tears of God. They are perfect, people like them are perfect, and people not like them are bad and terrible since they imply the possibility that they may not in fact be perfect.
Now, having said that, I have absolutely no idea WTF to do about it.
posted by aramaic at 8:51 AM on June 28 [16 favorites]
In the US especially, many people refuse to believe how much racist shit begins in boardrooms and private clubs. Both the inadvertent " just hire our frat brothers for leadership" stuff and worse.
*They don't believe people would prefer to lose money to avoid hiring/selling to "those people".
*Many of them think women and minorities are hallucinating when they talk about negative experiences; "those people" just need to be more grateful. This has been true for HUNDREDS of years.
*The sometimes cringey or inflammatory promoters don't help, but the baseline issue is "things are fine, don't make me uncomfortable by pointing out systemic shit".
So I predicted and still believe the DEI backlash will continue. I don't have a cure, I'm just tired.
posted by Freecola at 9:09 AM on June 28 [5 favorites]
*They don't believe people would prefer to lose money to avoid hiring/selling to "those people".
*Many of them think women and minorities are hallucinating when they talk about negative experiences; "those people" just need to be more grateful. This has been true for HUNDREDS of years.
*The sometimes cringey or inflammatory promoters don't help, but the baseline issue is "things are fine, don't make me uncomfortable by pointing out systemic shit".
So I predicted and still believe the DEI backlash will continue. I don't have a cure, I'm just tired.
posted by Freecola at 9:09 AM on June 28 [5 favorites]
>DEI initiatives are explicitly things that happened because companies perceived that is what shareholders and customers wanted. The second that they think otherwise it goes away.
And yet a popular thing to do on the internet lately is to complain about "rainbow capitalism" and make fun of companies for paying lip service to pride. Surely it would be better to cultivate visible support anyplace it can be had. I mean, if you don't like corporations insincerely pandering to lgbt+ people, you would have LOVED the 1980's.
posted by Sing Or Swim at 9:15 AM on June 28 [8 favorites]
And yet a popular thing to do on the internet lately is to complain about "rainbow capitalism" and make fun of companies for paying lip service to pride. Surely it would be better to cultivate visible support anyplace it can be had. I mean, if you don't like corporations insincerely pandering to lgbt+ people, you would have LOVED the 1980's.
posted by Sing Or Swim at 9:15 AM on June 28 [8 favorites]
I'm in a very red county in a very red state. I would say they are driven by fragile self-identity, living in a bullshit bubble, racism and misogyny, and the sinking realization that their "way of life" is withering away. When Obama said "clinging to their religion and their guns" he was pretty much spot on.
posted by Ber at 9:22 AM on June 28 [17 favorites]
posted by Ber at 9:22 AM on June 28 [17 favorites]
It did not take much more than an hour for my subconscious to mentally re-brand them as "Cracker Supply Store," so it should be easy to avoid them in the future.
posted by wenestvedt at 9:48 AM on June 28 [7 favorites]
posted by wenestvedt at 9:48 AM on June 28 [7 favorites]
Sent them email telling them I won't shop there any more and deleted my account. If enough of us do that it might make a difference.
posted by leslies at 9:55 AM on June 28 [6 favorites]
posted by leslies at 9:55 AM on June 28 [6 favorites]
This is disappointing. My stepdad runs a Tractor Supply store and they've always been a good employer. Good benefits. Treat the employees well. I'll ask him about this next time I see him.
posted by downtohisturtles at 9:59 AM on June 28 [6 favorites]
posted by downtohisturtles at 9:59 AM on June 28 [6 favorites]
The business DEI wave of the last few years was a very odd thing, driven by fear and herd-following more than by any conviction. It broke down when a lot people realized it had no natural constraint and could hurt them, not some racist living in some neighborhood they never met. As just one example, I can tell you that a LOT of lawyers - perfectly liberal, naturally - began to rethink DEI when they realized that Biden was capping straight white male federal judicial appointments at 10% or less and Fortune 500 general counsels were saying they wouldn't pay their bills if the percentage of BIPOC lawyers didn't satisfy.
posted by MattD at 10:42 AM on June 28 [3 favorites]
posted by MattD at 10:42 AM on June 28 [3 favorites]
Sorry, MattD, but do you have any sources for those fairly extraordinary claims?
posted by In Your Shell Like at 10:49 AM on June 28 [16 favorites]
posted by In Your Shell Like at 10:49 AM on June 28 [16 favorites]
My stepdad runs a Tractor Supply store and they've always been a good employer. Good benefits. Treat the employees well. I'll ask him about this next time I see him.
Can you ask him how many women, people of color, and differently abled people get to BE employees who are thus well-treated? Because that's actually what DEI initiatives are about.
And I don't mean that as a "gotcha". I've found that sometimes when the first time you hear about a concept is as a scary label, you can be put off - but if someone asks you about the ideas behind the label, sometimes the conversation goes differently.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 10:50 AM on June 28 [13 favorites]
Can you ask him how many women, people of color, and differently abled people get to BE employees who are thus well-treated? Because that's actually what DEI initiatives are about.
And I don't mean that as a "gotcha". I've found that sometimes when the first time you hear about a concept is as a scary label, you can be put off - but if someone asks you about the ideas behind the label, sometimes the conversation goes differently.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 10:50 AM on June 28 [13 favorites]
And yet a popular thing to do on the internet lately is to complain about "rainbow capitalism" and make fun of companies for paying lip service to pride
I think one of the reasons people, including me, complain about "rainbow capitalism" is precisely because these companies that claim to be allies are so obviously doing it out of cynical self interest and we don't trust them. I would say if anything this situation is a demonstration of the limits of rainbow capitalism and why people are rightfully skeptical.
posted by an octopus IRL at 10:55 AM on June 28 [16 favorites]
I think one of the reasons people, including me, complain about "rainbow capitalism" is precisely because these companies that claim to be allies are so obviously doing it out of cynical self interest and we don't trust them. I would say if anything this situation is a demonstration of the limits of rainbow capitalism and why people are rightfully skeptical.
posted by an octopus IRL at 10:55 AM on June 28 [16 favorites]
I think one of the reasons people, including me, complain about "rainbow capitalism" is precisely because these companies that claim to be allies are so obviously doing it out of cynical self interest and we don't trust them. I would say if anything this situation is a demonstration of the limits of rainbow capitalism and why people are rightfully skeptical.
Which is too bad since the DEI efforts at my former place of employment gave all minorities a collective voice for more say in how they were treated. But DEI took the fall for the company's poorly performing years because apparently DEI took focus off of growth. ??? Or something?
posted by NoMich at 11:09 AM on June 28 [1 favorite]
Which is too bad since the DEI efforts at my former place of employment gave all minorities a collective voice for more say in how they were treated. But DEI took the fall for the company's poorly performing years because apparently DEI took focus off of growth. ??? Or something?
posted by NoMich at 11:09 AM on June 28 [1 favorite]
because these companies… are so obviously doing it out of cynical self interestThese are corporations. Cynical self interest is pretty much what they're formed out of. Any notion that a corporation is granted personhood under the restriction that it ultimately be for the public good is long gone. Any hope or expectation that a corporation will address climate change, racism or sexism for the sake of being responsible is complete folly. They will ONLY be convinced to act towards these goals if they are forced to by the larger structures of government and society. While I find the mindless pandering to the queer community to be distasteful, expecting sincerity from a corporation is simply missing the purpose of one. The real benefit to these displays is not what they are offering on the surface (pride sponsorships, offset carbon credits, etc…) but instead is granting emotional leverage to the public. When a company has adopted these policies, they are providing the general public with a large lever that can help force a them to comply with the principals of those policies when they are caught violating them. People will feel an easier time complaining when a company is violating is own policies. The media will find a story showcasing the wrongdoing to be juicier if there's hypocrisy to highlight. Corporations can only be trusted to do what is in their cynical self-interest.
posted by WaylandSmith at 11:18 AM on June 28 [5 favorites]
The business DEI wave of the last few years was a very odd thing, driven by fear and herd-following more than by any conviction. It broke down when a lot people realized it had no natural constraint and could hurt them, not some racist living in some neighborhood they never met. As just one example, I can tell you that a LOT of lawyers - perfectly liberal, naturally - began to rethink DEI when they realized that Biden was capping straight white male federal judicial appointments at 10% or less and Fortune 500 general counsels were saying they wouldn't pay their bills if the percentage of BIPOC lawyers didn't satisfy.
I can't say what I want to about these assertions without running afoul of forum guidelines.
posted by Gadarene at 12:33 PM on June 28 [7 favorites]
I can't say what I want to about these assertions without running afoul of forum guidelines.
posted by Gadarene at 12:33 PM on June 28 [7 favorites]
JustFlintIsFine's take on this. Skip to the end for the lovely image of the "six foot tall rainbow cock", that Tractor Supply sells, that Flint says maybe sends the wrong message...
posted by hydra77 at 12:54 PM on June 28 [3 favorites]
posted by hydra77 at 12:54 PM on June 28 [3 favorites]
> Withdraw our carbon emission goals
Conservation hinges on acknowledging that we are dependent on other humans, and that prosocial behaviors are worthwhile to pursue. Admitting that dependency is anathema to anyone whose worldview centers around personal, kin, and clan strength; as it’s perceived as weakness and opens the door for exploitation and abuse. Abusing the environment, then, is a demonstration of personal strength: “I can thrive especially under a cloud of pesticides and smog”, contrarian and indeeensible as it may seem, is much more relatable than “I voluntarily weakened myself in order to benefit the common good”.
I haven’t yet seen any evidence of this underlying cause of environmental hostility being corrected under US farming or social policy. Perhaps someday.
posted by Callisto Prime at 5:06 PM on June 28 [2 favorites]
Conservation hinges on acknowledging that we are dependent on other humans, and that prosocial behaviors are worthwhile to pursue. Admitting that dependency is anathema to anyone whose worldview centers around personal, kin, and clan strength; as it’s perceived as weakness and opens the door for exploitation and abuse. Abusing the environment, then, is a demonstration of personal strength: “I can thrive especially under a cloud of pesticides and smog”, contrarian and indeeensible as it may seem, is much more relatable than “I voluntarily weakened myself in order to benefit the common good”.
I haven’t yet seen any evidence of this underlying cause of environmental hostility being corrected under US farming or social policy. Perhaps someday.
posted by Callisto Prime at 5:06 PM on June 28 [2 favorites]
Mod note: Comment removed. Please avoid comments wishing everyone would die, thanks.
posted by Brandon Blatcher (staff) at 7:29 PM on June 28 [1 favorite]
posted by Brandon Blatcher (staff) at 7:29 PM on June 28 [1 favorite]
At the risk of seeming like I'm endorsing such views - I absolutely am not - I do want to share a link that I thought shed a lot of light on the thinking behind the "go woke go broke" movement that continues to gather momentum all around us. I can't see this trend reversing until, as a very first step, we understand and take seriously the coherent critique behind it. Imo, we need to ditch the zero-tolerance and apply a harm reduction strategy here just as we advocate elsewhere, and meet people where they're at.
CNN Opinion: I’m a Catholic bishop who has found an ally in Bill Maher
posted by CookTing at 8:35 PM on June 28 [2 favorites]
CNN Opinion: I’m a Catholic bishop who has found an ally in Bill Maher
posted by CookTing at 8:35 PM on June 28 [2 favorites]
These are corporations. Cynical self interest is pretty much what they're formed out of. Any notion that a corporation is granted personhood under the restriction that it ultimately be for the public good is long gone. Any hope or expectation that a corporation will address climate change, racism or sexism for the sake of being responsible is complete folly.
Corporations are a legal fiction. Ultimately, it's just a group of people, doing stuff. People that can make all the same decisions that any other people can. It's people all the way down.
posted by Dysk at 1:02 AM on June 29
Corporations are a legal fiction. Ultimately, it's just a group of people, doing stuff. People that can make all the same decisions that any other people can. It's people all the way down.
posted by Dysk at 1:02 AM on June 29
And the people in question here, they're all worthless shitbags, for whom language sufficiently insulting and offensive does not exist.
posted by Dysk at 1:05 AM on June 29 [1 favorite]
posted by Dysk at 1:05 AM on June 29 [1 favorite]
i really appreciate metafilter's style of moderating which allows wild, disinformation-level statements like "capping straight white male judges at 10%". y'all apply to mod cnn debates; i'd wager there's better pay there.
i'd love to see an actual biden administration policy statement of this purported cap. i'd also like to point out that i didn't see people claiming this complaining at all about how unbalanced nominations were over the past two centuries where for a good portion of that 100% of the nominations were "straight" white males. i don't see anybody complaining about this purported 10% rule complaining about the imbalance in federal circuit courts now.
posted by i used to be someone else at 7:47 AM on June 29 [5 favorites]
i'd love to see an actual biden administration policy statement of this purported cap. i'd also like to point out that i didn't see people claiming this complaining at all about how unbalanced nominations were over the past two centuries where for a good portion of that 100% of the nominations were "straight" white males. i don't see anybody complaining about this purported 10% rule complaining about the imbalance in federal circuit courts now.
posted by i used to be someone else at 7:47 AM on June 29 [5 favorites]
as far as rainbow capitalism and complaints thereof, i think there's a lot of nuance there. an octopus IRL i think clocks much of it, but there's also a generational aspect: zoomers and alphas have never existed as adults (likely not even teens, really) in an america where marriage equality wasn't law of the land (only 2015), where there wasn't a level of cultural acceptance for being gay, lesbian, or bi; they've always lived in a nation where consenting relations between adults gay or straight, couldn't be legislated against (only 2003).
to paraphrase a line from the now-stale queer eye reboot: for genxers and millennials like a lot of us, the fight for us in the '90s and early '00s was "tolerance"; the fight in the late '00s and '10s was in a lot of ways more for "acceptance"; that's why, i think, a lot of the pushback from the bigots and people making outlandish statements about the LGBT/Queer community is all about it "being forced down their throat"--they could "tolerate" faggotry so long as it wasn't something that people were unashamed to be in public.
(one could argue that the genx/millennial fight might have been somewhat perplexing to older generations, which i would argue was often more for just simple visibility/acknowledgement of existence)
so the discussions of rainbow capitalism online, where it's almost entirely negatively presented, may be coming largely from younger generations where authenticity is more important (something reflected in edelman's trust barometer surveys of late being valued amongst the youth, if one is inclined to trust a pr company (and, as a further aside, since companies seem to trust the trust barometer, as it's basically one of the biggest things edelman is known for--during the '10s, that report emphasized that consumers wanted DEI and companies to have more liberal, accepting values, which may have had a part in the rush to set up DEI departments))--and where a lot of companies fail miserably ("companies during pride month: hi, gay! we're celebrating you this month with a rainbow logo. remember, you can't say rainbow without raytheon!"), while for a lot of us genx/millennials and older, there's a less binary outlook: we accept that it might not be fully authentic but we also see the simple fact that companies are trying as barometers to our safety.
which is, of course, why places like target and tractor supply backing away from DEI and pride month as blaring alarm klaxons, which is probably fairly accurate given how the fantastical false witness bearers that tend to make up shit about "capping 10% straight white men" are also plotting to ban trans care for everyone and trying to undermine obergefell (and, ultimately loving).
not that it matters in the end. tractor supply company can show its ass here; queer/lgbt folk will continue to exist regardless of how terrible at least 10% of straight white men try to make it for everyone else, and eventually those straight white men will, well. time comes for us all.
posted by i used to be someone else at 8:06 AM on June 29 [5 favorites]
to paraphrase a line from the now-stale queer eye reboot: for genxers and millennials like a lot of us, the fight for us in the '90s and early '00s was "tolerance"; the fight in the late '00s and '10s was in a lot of ways more for "acceptance"; that's why, i think, a lot of the pushback from the bigots and people making outlandish statements about the LGBT/Queer community is all about it "being forced down their throat"--they could "tolerate" faggotry so long as it wasn't something that people were unashamed to be in public.
(one could argue that the genx/millennial fight might have been somewhat perplexing to older generations, which i would argue was often more for just simple visibility/acknowledgement of existence)
so the discussions of rainbow capitalism online, where it's almost entirely negatively presented, may be coming largely from younger generations where authenticity is more important (something reflected in edelman's trust barometer surveys of late being valued amongst the youth, if one is inclined to trust a pr company (and, as a further aside, since companies seem to trust the trust barometer, as it's basically one of the biggest things edelman is known for--during the '10s, that report emphasized that consumers wanted DEI and companies to have more liberal, accepting values, which may have had a part in the rush to set up DEI departments))--and where a lot of companies fail miserably ("companies during pride month: hi, gay! we're celebrating you this month with a rainbow logo. remember, you can't say rainbow without raytheon!"), while for a lot of us genx/millennials and older, there's a less binary outlook: we accept that it might not be fully authentic but we also see the simple fact that companies are trying as barometers to our safety.
which is, of course, why places like target and tractor supply backing away from DEI and pride month as blaring alarm klaxons, which is probably fairly accurate given how the fantastical false witness bearers that tend to make up shit about "capping 10% straight white men" are also plotting to ban trans care for everyone and trying to undermine obergefell (and, ultimately loving).
not that it matters in the end. tractor supply company can show its ass here; queer/lgbt folk will continue to exist regardless of how terrible at least 10% of straight white men try to make it for everyone else, and eventually those straight white men will, well. time comes for us all.
posted by i used to be someone else at 8:06 AM on June 29 [5 favorites]
I will never understand why so many people are so rigidly adverse to just the idea of trying to be a decent person. I guess I just wasn't made for these times.
Amen.
posted by y2karl at 8:51 AM on June 29 [1 favorite]
Amen.
posted by y2karl at 8:51 AM on June 29 [1 favorite]
Hi! WaPo by this link finds the percentage of white male Biden judicial appointees at 13%. Lamba finds that Biden's judicial appointees have been about 10% out gay or lesbian. That suggests that roughly 11% of the appointees are straight white men. I don't have the numbers but my guess it was closer to 30% for Obama and 45% for Clinton. Those are the facts.
The non-straight-white-male Biden judicial appointees with whom I have any familiarity all seemed perfectly suited to the bench, and I'm happy for the progress of their careers. However, easy for me to say - I'm a straight white male with a law degree, but I am sure no candidate for the federal bench. If I were ... then DEI is no longer an abstract shifting of value to people with whom one sympathizes from people with whom one doesn't, it's a shifting of value from you. That requires a significantly higher level of commitment to DEI. Some people will have it, some people won't.
posted by MattD at 9:00 AM on June 29 [3 favorites]
The non-straight-white-male Biden judicial appointees with whom I have any familiarity all seemed perfectly suited to the bench, and I'm happy for the progress of their careers. However, easy for me to say - I'm a straight white male with a law degree, but I am sure no candidate for the federal bench. If I were ... then DEI is no longer an abstract shifting of value to people with whom one sympathizes from people with whom one doesn't, it's a shifting of value from you. That requires a significantly higher level of commitment to DEI. Some people will have it, some people won't.
posted by MattD at 9:00 AM on June 29 [3 favorites]
Hi! That does not necessarily imply it's a stated policy of capping the number of straight white men nominees.
Indeed, the implication there is that the other candidates are only "DEI candidates", or, as a lot of straight white men a mere decade ago would have said, "affirmative action hire", and thus somehow not qualified.
You do see how that's phenomenally racist, no?
Go ahead and say it with your full chest then, if that is what you believe: that the "cap" exists because unqualified melanated people or cootie-filled women are being named. Stop pussyfooting around like a dickless coward.
posted by i used to be someone else at 12:22 PM on June 29 [3 favorites]
Indeed, the implication there is that the other candidates are only "DEI candidates", or, as a lot of straight white men a mere decade ago would have said, "affirmative action hire", and thus somehow not qualified.
You do see how that's phenomenally racist, no?
Go ahead and say it with your full chest then, if that is what you believe: that the "cap" exists because unqualified melanated people or cootie-filled women are being named. Stop pussyfooting around like a dickless coward.
posted by i used to be someone else at 12:22 PM on June 29 [3 favorites]
Okay. Where is the part about capping nominees? Maybe I missed it in that article, but “the end result of a more equity-focused search and recruitment process was hiring X% of Y demographic” is not at all equivalent to “the policy was to cap hiring at X% of Y demographic.”
posted by Stacey at 12:26 PM on June 29 [2 favorites]
posted by Stacey at 12:26 PM on June 29 [2 favorites]
More directly on topic, I don’t think my occasional birdseed purchases are going to make any difference to their bottom line, but I did drop a line to Tractor Supply to let them know this particular queer family is taking its queer dollars somewhere else.
posted by Stacey at 12:33 PM on June 29
posted by Stacey at 12:33 PM on June 29
I don't recall that DEI efforts and programs were ever about altruism and being a good person taking precedence over making money. The theory was, DEI created better inter-personal teamwork and also attracted better candidates from a larger pool, thus helping make more money.
That some companies are getting disillusioned when they didn't become billionaires overnight with the "one weird trick", and other companies feel like the "irate flying monkey effect" loses them more money than they would gain, well that's capitalism for ya.
posted by ctmf at 4:30 PM on June 29
That some companies are getting disillusioned when they didn't become billionaires overnight with the "one weird trick", and other companies feel like the "irate flying monkey effect" loses them more money than they would gain, well that's capitalism for ya.
posted by ctmf at 4:30 PM on June 29
And yeah, "lots of non-white-men got hired, so obviously someone's forcing it" kind of implies you think non-white-men can't possibly be as qualified (or more) as white men. Whereas when white men are grossly OVER represented, well that's just random happenstance.
posted by ctmf at 4:40 PM on June 29 [5 favorites]
posted by ctmf at 4:40 PM on June 29 [5 favorites]
I'm a straight white male with a law degree, but I am sure no candidate for the federal bench. If I were ... then DEI is no longer an abstract shifting of value to people with whom one sympathizes from people with whom one doesn't, it's a shifting of value from you.
Well, if it isn't an example in the wild of How do you like them apples. What a shock it must be to find that you might be expected to relinquish some of your advantages in the name of equity. But wait! you cry. I didn't think that meant that I might not be automatically hired instead of some black woman, no matter how well qualified she is! That isn't fair! Who could have forseen this?
I'm afraid my empathy for the situation you describe appears to be... missing entirely.
posted by jokeefe at 7:17 PM on June 29 [2 favorites]
Well, if it isn't an example in the wild of How do you like them apples. What a shock it must be to find that you might be expected to relinquish some of your advantages in the name of equity. But wait! you cry. I didn't think that meant that I might not be automatically hired instead of some black woman, no matter how well qualified she is! That isn't fair! Who could have forseen this?
I'm afraid my empathy for the situation you describe appears to be... missing entirely.
posted by jokeefe at 7:17 PM on June 29 [2 favorites]
- I'm a straight white male with a law degree, but I am sure no candidate for the federal bench.
Have is not occurred to you that this may indeed be a reflection of your own skills, and not anything to do with race or gender in the first place?
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 7:30 PM on June 29
Have is not occurred to you that this may indeed be a reflection of your own skills, and not anything to do with race or gender in the first place?
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 7:30 PM on June 29
It's too bad that Tractor Supply is the closest feed spot for us. I know my politics don't match most of the employees, but they are pleasant and it's 1/3 of the distance to Farm & Fleet.
posted by toddforbid at 11:06 PM on June 29
posted by toddforbid at 11:06 PM on June 29
Mod note: One deleted. Commentary about the status quo of white men historically being favored in most hiring scenarios, and their often related dim view of DEI efforts isn't "discrimination and blanket hate based on race." Info: Guidelines, Microaggressions.
posted by taz (staff) at 11:50 PM on June 29 [1 favorite]
posted by taz (staff) at 11:50 PM on June 29 [1 favorite]
Toddforbid, did you really come in here to say something to the effect of “my values aren’t worth the gas”? It leaves me with the same feeling I have when there is a rush of kids at a conversion-chikn. You know it as chikfilet — but I know it as the fast food place that sponsored and paid for electroshock conversion therapy for gays. Im just agog at the people who can sit with themselves k
knowing that, much less have an appetite.
Anyway, please tell me I’ve horribly misinterpreted.
posted by MichaelJoelHall at 11:53 PM on June 29
knowing that, much less have an appetite.
Anyway, please tell me I’ve horribly misinterpreted.
posted by MichaelJoelHall at 11:53 PM on June 29
Commentary about the status quo of white men historically being favored in most hiring scenarios, and their often related dim view of DEI efforts isn't "discrimination and blanket hate based on race."
"White men have historically been favored statistically" and "white men should be at the bottom of the hiring list because they are white" are two very different statements. The comments here are not the former, they are the latter.
posted by photo guy at 3:43 AM on June 30
"White men have historically been favored statistically" and "white men should be at the bottom of the hiring list because they are white" are two very different statements. The comments here are not the former, they are the latter.
posted by photo guy at 3:43 AM on June 30
Well, if it isn't an example in the wild of How do you like them apples.
So a white person should be personally should be punished because a different white person did something horrible. And that is not racist. Got it.
posted by photo guy at 3:44 AM on June 30
So a white person should be personally should be punished because a different white person did something horrible. And that is not racist. Got it.
posted by photo guy at 3:44 AM on June 30
"Punished" here meaning "having extraordinary privileges to the cost of everyone else withdrawn".
posted by Dysk at 4:35 AM on June 30
posted by Dysk at 4:35 AM on June 30
So a white person should be personally should be punished because a different white person did something horrible.
No, this is a matter of "a person did something horrible, and another person came in here and screeched 'not all white men' about it".
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:36 AM on June 30
No, this is a matter of "a person did something horrible, and another person came in here and screeched 'not all white men' about it".
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:36 AM on June 30
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God damn it, I'm moving to a town where PetSense is the only real pet store.
posted by Countess Elena at 6:53 AM on June 28 [8 favorites]