Recently, a bunch of right-wing cretins decided Harley-Davidson was too woke and began organizing a boycott. Of course, it was only a matter of time before Fox News joined the boycott bandwagon and started riling up the rest of the cult to put pressure on the motorcycle manufacturer to get rid of its diversity, equity and inclusion policies. It would be great to be able to tell you Harley-Davidson told those human shitstains to go kick rocks, but that’s not what happened. Instead, Harley announced yesterday that it will bow to the bigots.
In a statement released on Twitter, Harley said, “We are saddened by the negativity on social media over the last few weeks, designed to divide the Harley-Davidson community. As a Company, we take this issue very seriously, and it is our responsibility to respond with clarity, action and facts. Earlier this year, we initiated an internal stakeholder review to better align Company activities to the needs of both our business and community.”
The statement then went on to explain how the company ended its DEI program back in April, had gotten rid of hiring quotas and will abandon supplier diversity goals. It will also focus employee development groups on professional development, reevaluate sponsorships and affiliations and no longer participate in scoring from the Human Rights Campaign. Additionally, going forward, employee training will be limited to only what is legally necessary.
“We believe having both a broad employee and customer base is good for business and that ultimately everybody should experience the joy of riding a Harley-Davidson. We remain committed to listening to all members of our community as we continue on our journey together as the most desirable motorcycle brand in the world,” the statement concluded.
How exactly Harley thinks the idea of “a broad employee and customer base” meshes with its decision to bend the knee to bigots isn’t clear, but one thing sure is — Harley-Davidson executives are a bunch of cowards. Even worse, it doesn’t appear to have done anything to placate the Twitter trolls who got this whole thing started in the first place. If you check the replies under the post, they’re still mad. It’s too late. It’s not enough. It’s performative. If they really meant it, they’d fire the CEO. You get the idea.
So in the end, everyone’s unhappy, including (probably) the execs who thought they could simply give into the angry mob and make this whole thing go away. It’s an embarrassing, cowardly decision, and honestly, maybe the CEO really should be fired. Just not for the reason the creepy weirdos want.