Corporations and Juneteenth
Many companies have withdrawn sponsorship from Juneteenth events, with some citing budget cuts related to DEI program reductions.
The Associated Press has reported that Juneteenth celebrations have been scaled back this year due to funding shortfalls as companies and municipalities across the country reconsider their support for diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
Many companies have withdrawn sponsorship from Juneteenth events, with some citing budget cuts related to DEI program reductions. In Denver, more than a dozen companies backed out of supporting the Juneteenth Music Festival, forcing organizers to scale back from two days to one.
In addition to these corporations, some state and local governments have also reduced support. West Virginia won't be hosting any Juneteenth events this year for the first time since 2017 due to a budget deficit, and cities like Scottsdale, Arizona canceled their festivals after dissolving DEI offices.
Of course, this all comes back to the current administration's war on DEI. The National Endowment for the Arts had to pull funding for numerous grants in May, including a $25,000 grant to the Cooper Family Foundation in San Diego for one of the city's largest celebrations.
All the funding challenges coincide with broader corporate retreat from diversity initiatives and President Trump's efforts to eliminate DEI programs in federal government. After the 2020 murder of George Floyd, many companies pursued efforts to make their branding more inclusive, but it has slowed down over the past few years after some received blowback from conservatives.
This is yet another way in which the current climate of the nation is outright hostile to black history as part of its war on DEI.
We must, however, remember, and celebrate as best we can.
Non in cautus futuri.
