Target Boycott's Hidden Consequences for Indigenous Communities

Conservative boycotts against Target over its stance on LGBTQ+ rights and other social issues have consequences for Indigenous communities, Nick Tilsen, president of the NDN Collective, told Newsweek.

Target has found itself at the center of a culture war clash after conservatives vowed to boycott the company over its 2023 LGBTQ+ Pride merchandise. Since the initial boycott began, conservatives have turned their focus to Target's broader stance on various social issues. Most recently, they have voiced outrage over the company donating a grant to the NDN Collective. The controversy comes amid a growing debate about how corporations should approach hot-button societal issues.

The latest controversy stems from the nonprofit's stance on "land back" programs. The NDN Collective has called for the return of land, including Mount Rushmore, to the native Lakota people. Conservatives have slammed Target for donating to an organization that embraces this policy. South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, a Republican, knocked Target executives for the donation, tweeting Monday, "Target's leftist execs support giving away Mount Rushmore. Not on my watch. America's symbol of Freedom will endure."

Charlie Kirk, a conservative activist and radio talk show host, tweeted, "Target not only sells 'Pride' and LGBTQ merch aimed at children, but it's also funding a nonprofit, NDN Collective, that calls Mt. Rushmore a 'symbol of white supremacy' and wants it shut down. Target's market cap is now down $15,000,000,000.00. May the Boycott continue!!"

However, Tilsen told Newsweek in a phone interview Tuesday morning that this outrage could have "detrimental" consequences for Indigenous communities. Tilsen explained that the outrage prompted an influx of hate mail to the nonprofit and "gets our community nowhere."

Tilsen explained the organization has used the grant, which has been subject to outrage from some on the right, to advance the interests of Native Americans in the Rapid City, South Dakota, area.

The grant money has been used to fund a civil rights lawsuit against a local hotel that allegedly refused service to Native Americans, has funded other local community groups that engage in cultural organizing, funding for human support services such as addiction recovery services and development for affordable houses, Tilsen said.

"It's been used to do some really great things," he said. "Both advancing and protecting peoples' rights and also working toward solutions for some of the work we're doing around affordable housing and community development."

Tilsen warned that efforts to end these DEI programs, which have only really taken off in the past few years, could have consequences for Indigenous communities. Less than one percent of philanthropy in the United States goes to Indigenous communities, which he says are already underfunded and facing "magnified' societal challenges faced by other communities.

"To take any resources away from that half of one percent that is sitting there absolutely is not only detrimental but is unjust," he said. "It would strip away from good things that are achieving social justice."

He continued: "Indigenous people are facing some of the highest rates of poverty. We're experiencing some of the lowest education outcomes. We're experiencing some of the most over-criminalization. Not only would it just impact our community, but many of these societal issues that are facing humanity and all of America right now, those are magnified in Native American communities."

Disinvestment from Native American communities would show a lack of commitment to "not actually solving those problems" and "rip the opportunity away" from those trying to advance the interests of Indigenous communities," he said.

Tilsen also responded to conservatives' criticisms of NDN Collective's "land back" policy, explaining that Mount Rushmore should have never been taken from Native Americans and that the U.S. government violated the Treaty of Fort Laramie by not returning the Black Hills to the region's indigenous people.

He pointed out that Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun previously wrote in a 1980 opinion for the case of United States v. Sioux Nation of Indians that the violation is the most "ripe and rank case of dishonorable dealings" in U.S. history.

Target has not addressed the criticisms against donating to NDN Collective. Newsweek reached out to Target's press team for comment via email.

Correction, 6/7/23, 10:40 a.m. ET: This story has been updated to correct a reference to Rapid City, South Dakota, that originally said Grand Rapids.