Broad Customer Base or Woke Agenda: Harley Wrestles With Anti-DEI Attack
(Bloomberg) -- Harley-Davidson Inc., under fire for its diversity, equity and inclusion policies, told employees that it began a review of its “stakeholder and outreach activities” earlier this year.
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The motorcycle maker said in an email to staff on July 26 that the outcome of that evaluation will inform its stakeholder initiatives in the future. Anti-DEI activist Robby Starbuck, who started a social media campaign against the company on July 23, posted a copy of the memo on the social media platform X Thursday.
The email sought to communicate with staff “regarding the recent online media that you may have seen relating to Harley-Davidson’s corporate policy,” it said. A message was also sent to dealers, refuting some of Starbuck’s claims against the company.
A spokesperson for Harley-Davidson confirmed the contents of the memos, and said in an emailed statement that the company is “always looking for ways to improve and align our actions with the business.” Having a “broad customer base is good for business,” according to the statement.
‘Woke Agenda’
Starbuck and his followers have blitzed social media for more than two weeks with criticism of the company’s programs, including those designed to promote greater inclusion of LGBTQ communities. The activist, who has won concessions from retailer Tractor Supply and farming equipment maker Deere & Co., had accused Harley-Davidson of adopting “the woke agenda of the very far left.” His campaign continues a broader conservative backlash against diversity initiatives that have included peppering a range of companies with lawsuits, boycotts and complaints to the federal government.
Starbuck criticized Harley-Davidson for asking employees to take LGBTQ and race-based training, trying to diversify its supplier and dealer base, supporting controversial United Way programs, and hosting liberal events at a company museum.
In a July 25 email to dealers, the Milwaukee, Wisconsin-based business said it doesn’t mandate any training not required by law. It added that it ended its corporate support of United Way in 2020 and hasn’t changed the way it works with dealers. It also said that the museum space is rented out to paying customers unrelated to its business.
George Gatto, who owns a Harley-Davidson store in the Pittsburgh area, said he’s been getting angry comments on his dealership’s Facebook page daily since Starbuck targeted the company, and most of them aren’t from customers. On the few occasions shoppers have asked him about the controversy, he has said Starbuck is a “politician just trying to get clicks.”
“My business in non-political. You are welcome to come here if you’re a Democrat, a Republican, or independent, we don’t even look at that,” Gatto said. “It’s about riding motorcycles and having fun.”
‘Good Thing’
Harley-Davidson is Starbuck’s third target in less than three months. Tractor maker Deere and farming equipment retailer Tractor Supply pulled back on their DEI programs after being criticized by Starbuck in June and July. Deere will no longer participate in “cultural awareness parades” and its business resource groups will focus “exclusively” on professional development, networking, mentoring and supporting talent recruitment, the company said last month.
Tractor Supply in late June said it would eliminate DEI roles, stop submitting data to the Human Rights Campaign and withdraw carbon emission goals in an effort to ensure its “activities and giving tie directly to” its business. That decision prompted anger from LGBTQ groups and the National Black Farmers Association.
US companies have said they remain committed to DEI even as they delete references to terms such as “anti-racist” from their regulatory filings and cut back on some programs. A majority of Americans continue to support diversity programs, with a Washington Post-Ipsos poll in April finding 61% of adults think DEI programs in the workplace are “a good thing.”
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(Updates with Harley dealer comment and details of dealer letter starting in third paragraph)
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