A few days after President Donald Trump issued an order urging the private sector to end “Illegal DEI Discrimination and Preferences,” the Rev. Al Sharpton led about 100 people into a Costco in New York City’s East Harlem neighborhood for a so-called buy-cott. The idea was to shop and support the company for maintaining its diversity, equity and inclusion policies amid pressure from the new administration.

But the gesture by the civil rights activist did not win universal acclaim on the political left. In interviews, self-identified socialists and other leftists worried that Sharpton’s action helped bolster the company at a moment when it faced pressure from unionized workers, who had threatened to strike beginning Feb. 1.

“Al Sharpton making Costco into a titan of progress that needs mass support days before a potential strike,” Bhaskar Sunkara, the president of the progressive magazine The Nation, grumbled on the social platform X.

Costco did not respond to a request for comment.

The episode illustrates an underappreciated tension on the left at a time when Trump has targeted diversity initiatives: Some on the left have expressed skepticism of such programs, portraying them as a diversion from attacking economic inequality — and even an obstacle to doing so.

“I am definitely happy this stuff is buried for now,” Sunkara said in an interview. “I hope it doesn’t come back.”

Corporate DEI Initiatives Takes Many Forms

Corporate-backed initiatives promoting diversity can take various forms. Starbucks, for instance, pledges to “work hard to ensure our hiring practices are competitive, fair and inclusive” and says it is “committed to consistently achieving 100% gender and race pay equity.” It also offers antibias training.

But socialists like Sunkara and others who share his critique say they prefer activism that focuses on class rather than racial or gender and sexual identity. They tend to see labor unions and worker-led organizing as a more effective solution to inequality.

Though deeply suspicious of Trump, whom they see as attacking DEI policies for political gain and as a pretext for slashing government, these leftists see the turn against DEI programs as an opportunity to reorient Democrats in a direction that will deliver more gains for workers and be more palatable to a majority of voters.

Sharpton said in a subsequent phone interview that he favored building a coalition of civil rights groups and unions to fight inequality, and that he had scheduled his Costco action far enough before the strike deadline that it wouldn’t interfere. He said he would have suspended a second buy-cott had there been a strike involving Costco workers, who announced a tentative deal to avert a work stoppage on Feb. 1.

Debate on Diversity Surface at Democratic Party

The debate over diversity initiatives even surfaced during the recent race to lead the Democratic Party. At a candidate forum before the party selected a new chair last weekend, candidates were asked if they would commit to appointing more transgender people to at-large Democratic National Committee seats, and to making sure the holders of the seats were ethnically diverse.

One of the candidates, Faiz Shakir, refused, saying he disagreed with constituting the committee based on people’s identities.

In an interview, Shakir, a former manager of Sen. Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign, said DEI programs often served to divide the working class and “soften the actual confrontation with corporate power we need in society.” Workplace DEI policies essentially buy off workers on the cheap, he said, adding: “You get a penny for your efforts. A little trinket here or there, that should mollify you.”

Those on the left who have studied diversity initiatives like anti-racism and implicit-bias trainings point out that such programs may not work as advertised. A study of hundreds of employers over three decades suggests that the beneficial effects of such training tends to fade within days and that mandatory training can even increase racial resentments.

Some Believe DEI Undermines Unions

While some on the left nonetheless support DEI, leftist critics argue that these programs tend to advance the interests of companies rather than workers. “DEI is fundamentally a tool of management,” said Jennifer C. Pan, author of “Selling Social Justice: Why the Rich Love Antiracism,” a book to be released in May by publishing house Verso, which characterizes itself as radical.

In her book, Pan cites examples of how employers and anti-union consultants deploy DEI programs as a way to undermine union campaigns by defusing pressure from workers.

Those who share her view often cite evidence suggesting that unions are more effective than DEI programs in closing wage gaps between employees of different genders and races by raising wage floors and improving benefits like paid sick leave. Unlike a labor contract, they note, DEI goals typically don’t impose a direct legal obligation on companies.

Other studies have found that union membership also reduces racial bias, perhaps because unions enlist workers of different races to work together to achieve shared goals.

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This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

By Noam Scheiber/Brandon Bannon
c. 2025 The New York Times Company