Black Equity Guide: (Holiday) Shopping While Black
Walmart's OUT, but what about Amazon, Macy's, and Target?
Whether you’re buying gifts or shopping for your holiday gathering, BDI’s Black Equity Guide is your guide to making a difference with every purchase. Let’s hold corporations accountable and support brands that advance Black equity, all while making your holiday season more meaningful.
Throughout history, Black consumers have had a complex relationship with retailers. In the early 20th century, Sears disrupted the retail landscape by providing Black Americans in the Jim Crow South with a way to shop without facing in-person discrimination. Through its iconic mail-order catalogs, Sears empowered Black consumers to bypass local merchants who enforced racist practices like overcharging or outright refusal of service. For many, Sears symbolized economic freedom and access to high-quality goods.
But alongside this progressive impact, Sears was also deeply entangled in the systemic inequalities of the time. The company resisted many 20th-century social movements aimed at achieving economic equality for African Americans and women. Its legacy is one of both empowerment and exclusion:
Sears’ history illustrates the ebb and flow of progress in retail’s relationship with Black consumers, from moments of empowerment (like access through catalogs) to active resistance against economic equality.
As we evaluate today’s retail giants like Target, Amazon, and Macy’s—and critique others like Walmart for their retreat from DEI commitments—it’s important to know that consumers wield significant power to influence change, holding retailers accountable for their actions and investments (or lack thereof) in Black communities.
ICYMI (For Reading Later):
Even when Walmart tried to lure us back in with cultural marketing:
“It's upsetting me and my homegirl cuz we feel like well damn, if you can't go to Bella Noche’s where the hell could you go?” - Hazel London
So, now that one of the world’s biggest retailers is on our sh*t list, where can we shop with confidence and dignity?
Here’s a look at how Target, Amazon, and Macy’s have invested back into Black people and communities in recent times:
Disclaimer: The data is a look at the past year and does not account for what may currently be happening behind-the-scenes, considering the DEI cutbacks. As of now, we have not heard any reports of Amazon, Macy’s, or Target making major cuts.
Black Representation
Macy’s Inc., parent company of Macy’s and Bloomingdales, is leading the charge here with an average of 14% Black representation across the board. Reminder: The Black population in the US is around 13.4%. Overall, the numbers aren’t bad, but we’re side eying that 0% in Amazon’s leadership team and hope they do better.
Supplier Diversity
We love a transparent Black supplier diversity spend! Worth noting for Macy’s, while they did not report their Black media spend, they did mention in their 2022 report that they planned to increase their spend with Diverse Owned Media.
Black-Owned Brands
Each brand has their own Black-owned section and symbols. There is a wide selection of Black-owned and/or founded products from skincare to games, to kitchen appliances, and Tracee Ellis Ross’ Pattern Beauty to Teri Johnson’s Harlem Candle Co.
DEI Initiatives
Target scored perfectly across the board, but we’d say all are doing ok in this area. Again, we are seeing companies backing out of DEI initiatives and abandoning equitable policies left and right, but we will report if we hear anything about these brands.
Community Investments
Amazon is a BIG company, so they should make BIG commitments. We’re happy to see all of the accelerators and capital investments they are making to support Black entrepreneuers. It’s also worth noting that they’ve made a big investment in affordable housing for cities where they have large footprints. Macy’s strategy seems to be even across underrepresented groups, which feels right — this is what it looks like for everyone to feel supported. And while Target wasn’t clear about their Black investments, they took the approach of creating programs and initiatives in majority Black neighborhoods in South Dallas, Minnesota, and Oakland.
Racial Discrimination Claims
We had to edit the graphic above just minutes after pasting it, because it was recently reported that Amazon has a new racial discrimination claim in DC. Their issues seem to be the biggest, most recurrent, and most systemic, which isn’t surprising considering all of the union reports and the sheer size and nature of the company.
Reminder: Be informed, not influenced.
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Sources:
https://wgntv.com/news/how-the-sears-catalog-revolutionized-the-way-blacks-shopped/
Amazon:
Macy’s:
Target: