Communities of Color Flex $6 Trillion in Spending Power as Companies Retreat From DEI

Communities of color are sending a powerful message to corporate America: respect our values, or lose our dollars.

While extremist groups loudly pressure companies to abandon diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies, Black and Latino consumers — who make up more than 30% of the U.S. population — are quietly exercising their influence with their wallets. According to the National Urban League, their combined spending power now totals $6 trillion, a figure larger than the GDP of every country in the world except the United States and China.

Despite no widespread, coordinated boycott, companies that have scaled back DEI commitments are already seeing financial setbacks. Those maintaining their pledges to equity and inclusion are outperforming competitors that bowed to political pressure.

“This is an anti-capitalist, anti-freedom, anti-democracy crusade that is being waged to try to suppress information,” said shareholder activist Andrew Behar in a recent Fortune interview. He warned that businesses are underperforming as a result of caving to political attacks on DEI.

Earlier this year, the NAACP issued a Black Consumer Advisory, urging consumers to support businesses that respect them and prioritize people over profits. The advisory did not name specific companies or call for a boycott, but the financial effects are already being felt by brands seen as retreating from inclusion efforts.

“CEOs that cut DEI initiatives miscalculated the market impact,” said DEI strategist Joseph Santana. “They incurred costly consequences in a business landscape where talent, consumers and investors demand alignment with modern values.”

The economic influence of Black and Latino communities was front and center at this month’s Essence Festival of Culture in New Orleans. During a panel titled “We Drive Prosperity,” speakers including Robert Hartwell of HBO Max, Juan Proaño of LULAC, and Elis Clementino of NVH Studios emphasized that economic unity is the key to lasting impact.

“Black and Brown communities already have the economic power,” the panel concluded. “They just need to use it together.”

The takeaway is clear: in today’s market, standing by DEI is not just a moral imperative — it’s a strategic one.