The Right-Wing Crusade Against DEI Isn’t Actually Working

A general rule in business is that, if there is a trend, someone will find a way to capitalize on it, and in this case, that somebody is Robby Starbuck. A conservative documentarian who once directed music videos for the likes of Gucci Mane and Snoop Dogg, he started targeting corporate DEI policies this summer, arguing that they’re bad for business. This week, Starbuck took credit after Lowe’s and Ford ended some of their DEI-related commitments, including working with minority-owned suppliers and donating to LGBTQ Pride events. That brought the tally up to six companies that have buckled after his social-media campaigns, after Harley-Davidson, Tractor Supply Co., Jack Daniels’s parent company, and John Deere pulled back. The problem for Starbuck, though, is that his crusade is showing exactly the opposite of what he is arguing and that at the very most, DEI policies are benign and have no effect on how much a company makes or how well it does.

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