Target criticized for donating to far-left gender advocacy group
Fox News contributor Tomi Lahren says Target will stick with their ‘woke’ values, rather than ‘appeal to their customer base.’
FOX NEWS INVESTIGATES – Since the George Floyd protests and riots of 2020, Target Corporation said it ramped up its diversity, equity and inclusion work. This agenda extended far beyond enhancing representation and support of historically marginalized groups externally and in its stores, and dipped into funding organizations with far-left and blatantly political agendas.
Target's "accelerated" its DEI program in response to Black Lives Matter activism under the leadership of its diversity chief – Kiera Fernandez. The chief has demanded that "White women" get to work to combat the proclaimed systemic racism in America.
Fox News Digital found that Target, via its nonprofit foundation, which has been directed by the retail giant's senior corporate treasurers, funded a grantee pushing to shut down and give away U.S. sovereign land such as Mount Rushmore – believing it to be an "international symbol of White supremacy" and to demilitarize the "violent" U.S. military. The same grantee also supports the destruction of Israel's Jewish character through what is called the Palestinian "Law of Return" and implementing economic warfare tactics against the Jewish State, such as boycotts and sanctions, to "Free Palestine."
Target Corporation's diversity chief Kiera Fernandez. (Getty | Screenshot/DailyMotion)
Another Target Foundation grantee said parents must teach specifically "White children" about systemic racism and to "see color." It also claimed that capitalism maintained a role in perpetuating racism.
Target Foundation 990 for the tax year beginning 01-31-2021, and ending 01-29-2022. (Fox News Digital)
The Target Foundation's webpage reflected that it funded the NDN Collective in 2022, a South Dakota-based nonprofit with a revenue stream that has reached as high as $50M+, according to its 2021 tax filing. NDN operates with a "racial equity lens" and is "dedicated to building Indigenous power [t]hrough organizing, activism, philanthropy, grantmaking… and narrative change."
NDN identifies as "intersectional," which is an idea coined by a critical race theorist, Kimberlé Crenshaw, holding that America is inborn with structurally racist and misogynistic systems, and they can intersect upon an individual to form numerous layers of persecution. By joining forces with other oppressed groups, NDN hopes to move towards "liberation."
The organization's campaign "LANDBACK" called for America to give up its public land.
"The closure of Mount Rushmore, return of that land and all public lands in the Black Hills, South Dakota is our cornerstone battle," NDN said. "Not only does Mount Rushmore sit in the heart of the sacred Black Hills, but it is an international symbol of White supremacy and colonization. To truly dismantle white supremacy and systems of oppression, we have to go back to the roots. Which, for us, is putting Indigenous Lands back in Indigenous hands."
LANDBACK also supports Israel giving up its Jewish character by opening the floodgates to those who identify as Palestinian refugees. After Israel gave up the Gaza Strip for peace in 2005 under pressure from the Bush administration, the former Israeli territory became what some analysts call a "missile launch pad" that is operated and controlled by the Hamas terror group.
On that note, LANDBACK also uses a phrase which has long been interpreted by some as a genocide call for the elimination of the Jewish state.
Palestinian members of the Hamas terror group in the Gaza Strip. (MAHMUD HAMS/AFP via Getty Images)
NDN said, "From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be Free." This rallying cry has long been used by "terrorist organizations such as Hamas, which seek Israel’s destruction through violent means," according to the Anti-Defamation League.
The organization also maintains hostile views on the military, and seeks the U.S. to be "demilitarized."
"[T]he U.S. military is in the explicit business of taking land away from communities all around the world and using their presence on their land to carry out their own agenda for the inhabitants of that area. Violence is fundamental for the U.S. to maintain its presence, and the military is how they establish dominance domestically and internationally, wherever they may be."
Target funds organization which calls for the shutdown of Mount Rushmore for purportedly being stolen lands. (Fox News Digital )
Fox News Digital asked Target how they can proclaim to support veterans in its corporate announcements, while also funding an "anti-militar[y]" organization, but did not immediately receive a response. NDN did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
"If you or your loved ones are serving or have served our country, we share our heartfelt thanks—today and always," Target said in 2020.
NDN also claimed U.S. military origins were, by extension, based on indiscriminate killings and alleged complicity in slavery.
U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Sidney Dellinger and Staff Sgt. Corey Smith perform flag detail during a ceremony. (Staff Sgt. Lexie West/U.S. Air Force via AP)
"The origin of the U.S. military and police is rooted in the establishment of informal militias composed of newly arrived settlers looking to make money and own land," NDN said "The purpose of these informal militias however was not to keep the police or protect citizens, but to clear the land of as many Natives as possible by killing indiscriminately, and catching runaway enslaved Africans."
NDN supports Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's Green New Deal in its stance against fossil fuels and calls the U.S. military "the single largest institutional polluter in the world."
In another example of its stance on law enforcement, the organization expressed on its website opposition to "cop city" in Atlanta, a police training center currently under construction.
The opposition to "cop city" has faced a wave of protests from left-wing activists. Some became violent, and in response, 19 defendants were charged with domestic terrorism.
Protesters set construction equipment on fire at the site of a proposed police training facility in Atlanta. (Sean Keenan/Twitter/Screenshot)
In addition to NDN Collective, Target also funded the YWCA Minneapolis, an organization seeking to bring "racial equity" into local policy starting in 2019.
The organization said, "Capitalism is the prevailing economic system in modern history. To understand its structure and function is to know its relationship to racism, genocide and systemic inequities."
The organization gives "anti-racist" advice to parents and local community members, stating White kids should be raised to see race in order to understand "systemic racism."
"We have to raise our children to see color; it is important that they understand that due to skin color, we are afforded different opportunities and often times our skin color impacts how we are able to move around in our society," it said.
It also said that the demographic of "White children" should be focused on, in particular, for an education about "race" early in childhood. The consulting agency did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Parents around the country have spoken out about critical race theory, which holds that America and its institutions are fundamentally racist. It also believes every individual exists in an oppressor vs. oppressed narrative. (iStock / Amazon)
"A special note for parents of White children: Our friends and colleagues raising children of color talk to their very young children about race as a matter of safety. We need to talk to white children early and often about their culture and identity and the true history of the United States of America. Eliminating racism means that people of all backgrounds must raise conscious, empathetic and outspoken kids."
Target also funds a YWCA chapter in St. Paul. Another grantee – the National Urban League – advocates for federal laws restricting the Second Amendment as well as "alternatives to policing."
Target said it "accelerated" an equity agenda after the 2020 uproar over the death of George Floyd. However, some of the grants were disbursed before then.
Target CEO Brian Cornell discussed Target's DEI strategy on CBS Mornings in September 2022. He said that a series of meetings on DEI in 2019 "prepared me for the murder of George Floyd."
Target CEO Brian Cornell says a DEI strategy has been good for business. (Paul Weaver/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty ImagesREUTERS/Shannon Stapleton)
Cornell has also stated Target's diversity strategy was good for business, according to Newsweek.
"The things we've done from a DE&I standpoint, it's adding value, it's helping us drive sales, it's building greater engagement with both our teams and our guests," he said. "And those are just the right things for our business today."
During the riots, Attorney General Bill Barr blasted Antifa for its alleged role in incitement., in particular in Minneapolis.
"The violence instigated and carried out by Antifa and other similar groups in connection with the rioting is domestic terrorism and will be treated accordingly," he said.
In one of the incidences in Minneapolis, Target's Lake Street store was nearly entirely looted, and was partially burned. One of its district managers has alleged he or she was traumatized by the incident, according to Bloomberg Law.
In response to the violence at its stores, Target launched a marketing campaign promising it would do better. Target said it was listening and learning its lessons. Exactly what those lessons were was not immediately clear. It said, "to our Lake Street Minneapolis community: we're listening, learning and re-opening." Fox News Digital could not immediately find a condemnation of the violence from Target.
Some left-wing media outlets, such as Vox and Slate, said the retail store met pushback during the time for an alleged "history working with police."
The retail giant did not respond to a request for comment, and has not responded to other queries from Fox News about its funding at least $2.1 million towards organization called GLSEN, which is pushing districts to adopt policies that would keep parents in the dark on their children's in-school gender transitions.
Target's also has a c-suite connection to GLSEN. Carlos Saavedra is a vice president of brand marketing at Target and a treasurer at GLSEN. GLSEN provides sexually explicit books to schools for free and advocates for the integration of gender ideology at all levels of curriculum in public schools, including math classes.
BIDEN DOE CLAIMS DISTRICT REMOVING BOOKS DISCUSSING BESTIALITY LIKELY VIOLATED CIVIL RIGHTS LAW
Target Corporations' response to the George Floyd-related destruction at its stores appeared to be different to the heated response over the LGBTQIA+ merchandise that were catered for children. Target subtly pushed merchandise to the back of stores, claiming after the decision was exposed that it was protecting its employees. Evidence of such incidences were not immediately produced. According to an insider, Target was trying to avoid a "Bud Light situation."
The corporation faced complaints for using "tuck friendly" women’s swimsuits, which allow trans women who have not had gender-affirming operations to conceal their private parts.
Target Pride swimsuits boasted "tuck-friendly construction" and "extra crotch coverage," presumably to accommodate male genitalia, even if they are made in an otherwise female style. (Brian Flood/Fox News)
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Target also removed online designs by Abprallen, a London-based company that sells some occult- and satanic-themed LGBTQ+ clothing and accessories outside of Target.
Fox News Digital's Brian Flood contributed to this report.