'Bone-chilling': More corporate giants cave to Trump — even in 'cradle of civil rights'

The Trump administration's assault on diversity, equity and inclusion programs is rattling Atlanta.

Some of the city's largest companies have been "roiled" by Trump's "DEI war" — in contrast to Mayor Andre Dickens' resistance — and major civil rights leaders have reacted with outrage, Bloomberg reported Friday.

"At Coca-Cola Co., references to racial and gender representation have been removed from the corporate website. Home Depot Inc. and United Parcel Service Inc. have replaced mentions of diversity, equity and inclusion with 'respect for all people,' and 'inclusion and belonging,'” Bloomberg reported.

"The corporations are just three of a growing number of household names that are making changes to their DEI policies, after President Donald Trump assailed the initiatives with a series of executive actions that labeled them as illegal."

The report contrasted those actions with Dickens's willingness "to forfeit millions in federal funding by refusing to cancel airport diversity programs," a position that contrasts starkly with the corporate giants' capitulation.

"For Dickens, who’s led the city since 2022, it was worth it. Atlanta is, after all, the place that gave rise to the US civil rights movement; the city that promoted itself in the 1960s with the slogan that it was 'too busy to hate.'"

Some of Atlanta's most prominent civil rights leaders strongly protested the abandonment of DEI, according to the report.

"These companies are backing away from DEI, and it’s hurting their relationships in the communities,” said Reverend Jamal-Harrison Bryant, an Atlanta-area pastor who has led a recent boycott against Target Corp. for eliminating its diversity initiatives. “It’s a real bone-chilling time.”

Bernice King, the daughter of Martin Luther King Jr., also told the outlet the White House executive orders targeting diversity were "undoing what my parents and others sacrificed their lives for.'"