Lowe's Demeans and Excludes Straight White Men Because of Their Race and Sex

At the Lowe's annual shareholder meeting on May 27, 2022, Scott Shepard -- Director of the Free Enterprise Project (FEP) -- presented proposal 8. His remarks can be heard here and read below.

We ask the company for a report about whether, in its myriad diversity, inclusion and equity efforts, it discriminates against employees it does not honor with the label “diverse.” And ask that in compiling the report, the company consult with experts from many viewpoints, including of the center/right, representing most Americans and almost certainly most ultimate Lowe’s shareholders and employees.

In opposing our proposal the company fails to inform shareholders of the programs and programming that render it so necessary.

Lowe’s sponsored a critical-race and equity-based employee-training program from the United Way of Central Carolina that taught that racism is bad; that all white people are racist; that no non-white people are racist; and that whites are uniquely bad. It taught that whites needed to play a subordinate role at work, now and in the future, “ced[ing] power to people of color.” It taught that the only acceptable response by whites to all of this race hate against them was to embrace it fully and to apologize for themselves forever.

This employee training was offered to Lowe’s employees. No counterprogramming – no alternative, non-racist rebuttal – was offered.
All employees not only have civil rights, but have the same civil rights as all other employees. So all employees enjoy legal protections against workplace discrimination, and against having to work in racially hostile work environments.

This programming created an illegally hostile work environment. If you doubt, imagine the national response if Lowe’s had been caught telling non-white employees that they were uniquely evil and must step aside for the good of other races.

Because we all have the same civil rights, this programming was just as evil, and just as wrong.

Also consider Lowe’s absurd program to support small businesses, the primary purpose of which appears to be discrimination against straight white guys. All small businesses are invited to participate, except those run by white men. The apparently inferior white men and their businesses can only participate if they make the additional showing – required of no other participants – that they have either served in the military or are sexual-orientation minorities.

This is some of the starkest, and dumbest, discrimination imaginable. It treats straight white guys as inferior on the basis of their race for no imaginable valuable purpose.

The law protects all Americans from discrimination by race, sex, and orientation whether or not Lowe’s or hard-left critical theory honor them as “diverse.” Too many Lowe’s programs ignore this basic fact. All shareholders must be worried when the company spends their money to create such massive legal, regulatory, litigational and reputational risks.

Lowe’s executives must recognize that all discrimination is wrong – or they must go, to be replaced with executives who understand how the U.S. Constitution works.

Is Ace the place for hardware without discrimination?

For more information, see https://nationalcenter.org/ncppr/2022/05/24/investors-called-to-oppose-discrimination-at-meta-twitter-and-lowes/