Years after launching a massive commitment to invest in people of color, Goldman Sachs (GS-1.29%) has been quietly scrubbing its website of references to race.
The financial giant in 2021 pledged to invest in Black women through its multibillion-dollar “One Million Black Women” program. But in recent weeks, Goldman has been removing the word “Black” from its homepage, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal.
The firm also updated the description of its “Black in Business” program, which was launched as an educational initiative for Black women in business. The updated language says that the program helps entrepreneurs “stay in the black.”
An unnamed senior executive told the Journal that One Million Black Women is no longer for Black women but is now for low- and moderate-income populations. Federal law requires banks to serve low-income neighborhoods.
One Million Black Women “is one component of our longstanding commitment and broader strategy focused on advancing small businesses, job creation, and economic growth in rural and urban communities across America,” Goldman’s global head of corporate engagement Asahi Pompey told the Journal. “We regularly evaluate our programs to ensure they are impactful, align with the firm’s strategy, and are compliant with the law.”
Companies from Pepsi to Disney have been rolling back their diversity initiatives in recent months to appease President Donald Trump, a vocal opponent of diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. Shortly after Trump’s election last November, Walmart (WMT+0.77%) ended its practice of giving priority treatment to suppliers based on race or gender and chose not to renew a five-year commitment to a racial equity center established after the 2020 police killing of George Floyd. Other major companies, including Ford (F-2.22%), Lowe’s (LOW-0.78%), Harley-Davidson (HOG-4.26%), Deere & Co. (DE-0.26%), Molson Coors (TAP+0.02%) (TAP), and Toyota (TM-2.30%) scaled back their DEI programs that same month.
In January, Target (TGT-0.70%) announced the end of its three-year DEI goals and a program aimed at increasing its share of products from Black or minority-owned businesses. And in February, Citigroup (C-1.68%) pulled the plug on most of its DEI programs — just a month after its head of talent said that “DEI is part of our DNA.”
—William Gavin and Kevin Williams contributed to this article.
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