Henry Ford once said “business is like a car; it will not run by itself except downhill.” Or until it comes up against a wall in the form of anti-woke activist Robby Starbuck.With that in mind, the worlds original mass automaker voluntarily back tracked on its longstanding DEI policies lest they be exposed by the self-proclaimed ‘Warrior-against-Woke’.Barely two days after forcing Lowe’s to walk back its inclusion policies, Ford announced it was taking “a fresh look” at its own set of circumstances to end participation in the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index as well as various other “best places to work lists.”.Iconic motorcycle maker Harley Davidson accused of being ‘woke’ by DEI crusader.In addition, Ford said it will not use quotas for minority dealerships and suppliers and won’t impose hiring quotas. In addition, it said employee resource groups — so-called ‘ERGs’ — will be open to all employees regardless of race, gender or orientation and must be focussed on business.While committing to “respect and civility” to all ideologies and races, CEO Jim Farley said hiring, promotion and pay will follow a “merit based approach.”Moreover, the policies will take effect in all Ford workplaces around the globe.In a letter to employees, Farley wrote: “Ford remains deeply committed to fostering a safe and inclusive workplace and building a team that leverages diverse perspectives, backgrounds and thinking styles to craft the best products, services, and experiences for our customers. We have more work to do to realize this vision.”.It comes as Starbuck notches up a steady stream of victories in his crusade to bring America’s most iconic brands to heel to their masters — their customers.Like all his other targets — Tractor Supply, John Deere, Harley-Davidson, Jack Daniel’s — Ford has a long history in the American psyche that goes well beyond making cars and trucks. In addition to inventing the assembly line, Ford also brought in the ‘five-dollar workday’ and ushered in the Great Migration of workers from the cotton fields into car factories. Somewhere along the way it even managed to make a Model T in any colour other than black.But for Starbuck, DEI is a black and white issue.“This isn’t everything we want but it’s a great start. We’re now forcing multi-billion dollar organizations to change their policies without even posting just from fear they have of being the next company that we expose,” he said on Twitter (“X”).“We will continue to communicate with our sources in companies we expose and report on any that step out of line. I can promise that if we have to do a second report, it will be much more aggressive.”“We are winning and one by one we WILL bring sanity back to corporate America.”To quote that great British Knight, Sir Paul: “Beep, beep, beep and yeah.”
Henry Ford once said “business is like a car; it will not run by itself except downhill.” Or until it comes up against a wall in the form of anti-woke activist Robby Starbuck.With that in mind, the worlds original mass automaker voluntarily back tracked on its longstanding DEI policies lest they be exposed by the self-proclaimed ‘Warrior-against-Woke’.Barely two days after forcing Lowe’s to walk back its inclusion policies, Ford announced it was taking “a fresh look” at its own set of circumstances to end participation in the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index as well as various other “best places to work lists.”.Iconic motorcycle maker Harley Davidson accused of being ‘woke’ by DEI crusader.In addition, Ford said it will not use quotas for minority dealerships and suppliers and won’t impose hiring quotas. In addition, it said employee resource groups — so-called ‘ERGs’ — will be open to all employees regardless of race, gender or orientation and must be focussed on business.While committing to “respect and civility” to all ideologies and races, CEO Jim Farley said hiring, promotion and pay will follow a “merit based approach.”Moreover, the policies will take effect in all Ford workplaces around the globe.In a letter to employees, Farley wrote: “Ford remains deeply committed to fostering a safe and inclusive workplace and building a team that leverages diverse perspectives, backgrounds and thinking styles to craft the best products, services, and experiences for our customers. We have more work to do to realize this vision.”.It comes as Starbuck notches up a steady stream of victories in his crusade to bring America’s most iconic brands to heel to their masters — their customers.Like all his other targets — Tractor Supply, John Deere, Harley-Davidson, Jack Daniel’s — Ford has a long history in the American psyche that goes well beyond making cars and trucks. In addition to inventing the assembly line, Ford also brought in the ‘five-dollar workday’ and ushered in the Great Migration of workers from the cotton fields into car factories. Somewhere along the way it even managed to make a Model T in any colour other than black.But for Starbuck, DEI is a black and white issue.“This isn’t everything we want but it’s a great start. We’re now forcing multi-billion dollar organizations to change their policies without even posting just from fear they have of being the next company that we expose,” he said on Twitter (“X”).“We will continue to communicate with our sources in companies we expose and report on any that step out of line. I can promise that if we have to do a second report, it will be much more aggressive.”“We are winning and one by one we WILL bring sanity back to corporate America.”To quote that great British Knight, Sir Paul: “Beep, beep, beep and yeah.”
