Influencer and entrepreneur Tabitha Brown cautioned against joining Tina Knowles’ movement to boycott Target. Beyonce‘s mom called for a boycott after Target rolled back its DEI initiatives.
In a now-deleted Instagram post, Knowles accused the company of “bowing down” and “kissing the ring.”
In a caption of a post that showed a statement from Target, Knowles wrote, “So Yall Bowed down and kissed the ring huh? Crossing you off my list! No more Target! [sic]”
Last week, Target announced it is rolling back its diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. The announcement resulted in backlash from Democrat leaders in blue states.
However, Brown warned against boycotting Target because a boycott could hurt Black-owned businesses that sell merchandise in the stores.
Brown said she’s “disheartened” by Target’s announcement to rollback DEI goals that were put in place during the Biden administration.
“It has been very hard for Black-owned businesses to hit shelves,” Brown said in an Instagram video on Saturday.
“Which is why it has been such a big deal when we do finally land inside of retail,” she added. “So it’s definitely heartbreaking to feel unsupported.”
Brown acknowledged she is in business with Target, Walmart and Amazon. “So many of us will be affected… and our sales will be hurt,” she said.
She said “it’s a process” to remove her products from Target’s shelves. “Where are we gonna put it? We have to have a place to store it,” she explained.
Brown warned that any continued boycotts would give Target an excuse to remove Black-owned products from the shelves and then place their “preferred business” on the shelves.
Brown asked her followers to think about Black-owned business owners who worked so hard to get their products placed in Target.
