Anti-DEI Outcry Online Spurs Flurry of Big-Name Firms to Retreat

At the end of July 2020, as the Covid-19 pandemic raged and unprecedented supply-chain challenges distorted markets, then-Ford Motor Co. Chief Executive Jim Hackett started the company’s earnings call not with financials or strategy but with a message on racial justice and the murder of George Floyd.

“Ford is committed to leading from the front, with action to enable social mobility and economic success in the African American community,” Hackett said. Floyd’s death is “much more than a moment in time that will fade, but rather we must make it a turning point for our society.”

Just four years ...