(LifeSiteNews) — Fast food giant McDonald’s is the latest major corporation to distance itself from “diversity, equity, and inclusion” (DEI) policies, reframing its approach to inclusivity around the more universal “Golden Rule.”
The Associated Press reports that the chain plans to abandon specific diversity targets for senior leadership, end a program aimed at diversity training for suppliers, and pause participation in “external surveys,” such as those conducted by the LGBT pressure group Human Rights Campaign (HRC).
“McDonald’s position and our commitment to inclusion is steadfast,” McDonald’s leadership declared in a January 6 open letter. “Since our founding, we’ve prided ourselves on understanding that the foundation of our business is people. As Fred Turner said, ‘We’re a people business, and never forget it.’”
“We are also excited to introduce a new concept: the power of OUR ‘Golden Rule’ – treating everyone with dignity, fairness and respect, always,” it added. “For the last several months, a small team has been working on refining our language to better capture McDonald’s commitment to inclusion.”
McDonald’s cited the “shifting legal landscape” after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that race-based affirmative action was unconstitutional in 2023 as contributing to the changes. Conservative activist Robby Starbuck, who has successfully pressured other companies to reverse woke policies, said he had informed McDonald’s he planned to release a report on them as well.
BIG news: @McDonalds is ending a number of woke DEI policies today. Now let me tell you what’s changing and how it happened.
3 days ago I told McDonald’s that I’d be doing a story on woke policies there. Today they’ve announced the following changes:
• Hiring: They will END… pic.twitter.com/bvFglf6pxw
— Robby Starbuck (@robbystarbuck) January 6, 2025
McDonald’s joins Walmart, Jack Daniel’s, John Deere, Tractor Supply, Lowe’s, Toyota, and Coors, all of which have dropped “woke” corporate policies over the past several months in response to public pressure.
In recent years, left-wing activists have used DEI and “environmental, social, & governance” (ESG) standards to encourage major U.S. corporations to take favorable stands on political and cultural issues such as homosexuality, transgenderism, race relations, the environment, and abortion.
Political and customer backlashes to such activism has translated to business woes for companies such as Disney, Bud Light, and Target. Former President Donald Trump’s defeat in November of outgoing Vice President Kamala Harris for the White House has also been seen by many as further evidence of the general public rejecting woke ideology, further signaling to corporations and activists alike the lack of popular receptiveness to such projects.