An Target Corporation diversity executive demanded “White women” get to tackle the alleged systemic racism that exists in America as well as stating that the retailer made some internal decisions based on the predictions of changing demographics.
“One of the hardest things in the world to be every day is Black,” Kiera Fernandez who is the director of diversity and inclusion at Target stated in an interview on video with Essence Magazine in January.
Target has increased its DEI efforts, especially following the demise of George Floyd in 2020. Target created an organization called Racial Equity Action and Transformation task force – that is headed by Fernandez to quickly “accelerate” those efforts. The task force is focused on involving Black customers in stores, and increasing promotions and the recruitment of Black employees. The retailer also pledged to dramatically increase the number of Black employees, which stood at 50 percent.
“[W]e’re on track to spend more than $2 billion with Black-owned brands by 2025. We’ve already increased our investments with Black-owned companies and suppliers – including marketing agencies, construction companies, facilities maintenance and more – by 50% since 2020,” Fernandez said to the HR Journal in the month of July, 2022 regarding Target.
“And in that shift, it’s important for us to… think about how do we start planting seeds today that prepare for those future… demographic shifts,” she spoke during a panel discussion in 2021 of Twin Cities Business Talks: Diversity Inclusion, Equity, and Equity that was uploaded to YouTube.
She continued to state it was the duty to “White women” to call out “transgressions.”
“I think the number one thing that I would encourage White women to do is take the [DEI] learnings… and use your voice… so the woman of color in the room doesn’t always have to.”
She later singled out one White participant on the panel and stated that her voice, because of her race, will be considered more important when it comes to work.
“Because whether it’s right or not… there are places that you and I will go where your voice will be heard differently than mine. And that is why we’re doing this work. That’s why it’s so important to have this conversation. But we also can’t ignore the systemic history that got us here and then the things that we have to do differently to remove those barriers,” she said.
Target Corporation did not immediately respond to a request for comments.
“[Target’s] tolerance for intolerance will definitely be a significant challenge to any company that’s thinking about how they build a culture. It was talking about culture like that’s so deeply woven in your strategy. It has to be,” she added. “So it is daunting. It’s not for the faint-hearted… But it gets easier every day.”
“Given the calls for racial equity over the past year, we know that many companies are standing up or deepening their investments in their diversity and inclusion work… DE&I is not meant to rest on one individual’s shoulders,” she said. “This work requires shared accountability and responsibility, which is why it’s so critical to create an infrastructure – a system with tools that allow you to integrate DE&I into your ecosystem in a way that truly drives your business.”