I loved the sitcom Grand Crew. Grand Crew follows the lives and misadventures of a group of young professional Black folk that live in LA, who love wine as much as they love good conversation. It’s 21st-century Living Single, without the colorism.
In one episode, two of the main characters are walking in a residential neighborhood and as they are walking, they catch an Anglo man pulling up his BLM yard sign.
They look on at the man in surprise and a little disgust, and the man pulling up the sign says awkwardly, “You didn’t expect me to keep this thing up forever, did you? But, I will if you want me to…”
The two main characters shake their heads in disgust and walk away. They say nothing else about the encounter.
The man pulling up the BLM sign is an allegory for how we have handled social justice in this country.
While our great country is the land of opportunity and dreams and hope for many, for decades, however, there has been an undercurrent of injustice for others.
Someone has always been on the outside of the arc of freedoms and protections and opportunities of this country.
Someone or something will make us aware of the injustice, we become woke, and we begin to take steps to help those on the margins. And then we go back to business as usual.
In 2020, as the nation grappled with profound racial injustice, corporate America made a collective promise. Retailers, including Target, announced ambitious commitments to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), pledging to support Black-owned businesses, diversify their workforce, and provide safe spaces for dialogue.
Fast forward to 2025, and those same institutions quietly pulled out and reneged on their promises. Following legal challenges and political pressure, Target and others have scaled back their DEI initiatives, hastily removing diversity metrics and dismantling support structures for marginalized employees.
For Christians, particularly within the Black church tradition, this backtracking is not merely a business decision; it is a moral betrayal. The current, ongoing boycotts are a necessary exercise of faith-based stewardship and a direct stand against systemic injustice.
As Rev. Dr. Jamal Bryant rightly noted, Target previously committed to investing $2 billion with Black-owned businesses by 2025. Reversing these commitments to pander to political winds is a breach of trust.
When a company makes a public promise to uphold fairness and then abandons it when convenient, it demonstrates a commitment to profit over people.
Our sacred text often speaks to the obligation of the powerful to uphold the rights of the vulnerable (Proverbs 31:8–9). By cutting DEI programs, companies are signaling that the advancement of underrepresented communities is expendable.
In the Gospel account of the Parable of the Talents, Jesus teaches that an employer puts his workers in charge of his goods while he is away on a trip. Upon his return, the master assesses the stewardship of his slaves. He evaluates them according to how much of the exploitative economic system each was willing to use to obtain a profit.
Jesus characterizes the worker who divests the funds he is responsible for from the oppressive economic system as the hero of the parable. Jesus doesn’t characterize the worker’s path as an easy one, but it is clear that he has made the most-sound decision.
The Christian case for a boycott is not rooted in animosity, but in stewardship. Money is a tool of influence. Christians are called to be wise stewards of their resources, which includes refusing to fund institutions that promote ungodly practices. Supporting a company that actively retreats from equality is a missed opportunity for stewardship.
Father Michael Pfleger has aptly pointed out that companies respond to one thing: dollars. By flexing their “economic power,” Christians are using a non-violent, peaceful mechanism to demand respect and accountability. It is a modern-day application of moral witness in the marketplace.
We can certainly question whether boycotts are an effective “Christian” tool. However, the history of the church is intertwined with social protest. The Montgomery bus boycott was not led by politicians, but by pastors. The current, ongoing boycott, which has seen over 100 Black vendors withdraw their products, echoes this legacy.
The fight for diversity is not a secular invention; it is a pursuit of a kingdom reality. Revelation 7:9 promises a future of extreme diversity, where people from every nation, tribe, and tongue gather together. When Christians advocate for equality, they are acting as ambassadors for that future, challenging a world that divides and excludes.
The decision to continue divesting funds from these companies is necessary because true change is not dictated by false promises or a contrived timeline. It requires a sustained, consistent effort until substantive, verifiable changes are made to corporate policies.
The call for accountability is not simply about restoring programs; it is about ensuring that corporate America stands with all of its employees and customers. If corporations will not stand with marginalized communities, then the Church must stand in the gap.
