On Aug. 19, Harley-Davidson released a vague memo that was touted as saying the company would move away from Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) policies. Unfortunately, they did no such thing. Several legacy news outlets and media influencers on the right claimed a “win” for the right in the battle over woke policies at the legendary American company.

One of those personalities was Robbie Starbuck. His proclamation of victory was shared  all across the MAGA media spectrum.

If only it were true.

The only thing the memo promised was that the company would end its DEI scoring to HRC—the Human Rights Campaign, which advocates LGBT+++ “rights.” The rest of the memo was purposely vague. The company never promised to end DEI, and it certainly did not promise to back away from Environmental, Social, and Governance policies (ESG), of which DEI is a part.

To confirm my suspicions, I checked the corporate website and, sadly, all the woke policies of ESG and DEI remain. Not only is the company still supporting the Green New Deal, to remove from t Earth healthy CO2 gasses, but the company still has DEI initiatives on its website as a corporate goal: Note:

Beyond Sustainability and ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance), we seek to drive desirable, positive impact for all our stakeholders based on this simple premise: we all do better when all are included! Our focus areas – Inclusion & Belonging, [ed. note, this is DEI] Driving Positive Impact in Our Communities, and Creating a Path to Net Zero – recognize the interdependence between healthy societies, a healthy planet, and prospering, inclusive economies [ed. note, this is ESG, Green New Deal]. 

How can right wing media get this so wrong, and be so apparently oblivious? Does anyone do research anymore? Taking the word of any interested party in the age of social media not only harms the efforts of the right, but it makes those who promote such fake news no better than CNN or MSNBC.

Harley-Davidson has not in any way removed its commitment to ESG and DEI.. In its sustainability reports, noted here, Harley-Davidson remains dedicated to “Workforce diversity” and has since 2019 increased approved racial/gender employees. At the same time, it has decreased the number of employees from unapproved, non-woke categories. Whites, for example, have decreased from over 4100 in 2019 to 3960 in 2022.

In other words, Harley-Davidson has put in place a quota system of unknown hiring ends based on race and gender over and against hiring qualified and talented candidates, regardless of those characteristics.

We have no assurance these practices will end. We know only that the company has not backed away from its woke policies because they remain on their website, memo notwithstanding.

Worse still, the CEO, Jochen Zeits, and the woke board, remain employed by the company. Zeits remains an avid supporter of the B-Team (he is a co-founder), a radical groups of leftists who want to end carbon emissions from the globe. Their aim is noted in their sustainability letter. They advocate for new modes and orders that, naturally, serve the interests of the ruling class. Let them speak for themselves:

Plan A—where business has been motivated primarily by profit—is no longer an option. We knew this when we came together in 2013. United in the belief that the private sector can, and must, redefine both its responsibilities and its own terms of success, we imagined a ‘Plan B’ – for concerted, positive action to ensure business becomes a driving force for social, environmental and economic benefit. We are focused on driving action to achieve this vision by starting ‘at home’ in our own companies, taking collective action to scale systemic solutions and using our voice where we can make a difference.

The B-Team are promoters of a globalized, controlled world market as promoted by the World Economic Forum. Just this week, WEF founder Klaus Schwab, proclaimed that humanity need to be “forced into collaboration” to achieve their goal to end the combustion engine, all to meet climate goals.

Zeits is right on board with  this goal.

The question thus needs to be asked: Do we really expect the CEO of Harley-Davidson will abandon his woke leftist projects just because some internet influencer called him out online?

Despite the self-proclaimed assertion that the forces against woke politics have “won,” nothing could be further from the truth. The woke policies remain not just at Harley-Davidson and at Indian, among other numerous corporations. Harley’s CEO has a personal commitment to the work of the B-Team to advancing woke policies in his own company. Those policies will continue at the motorcycle company.

The woke agenda is a societal sickness. It’s not going to go away as the result of one social media skirmish.

If we are to win this war, we must be honest with ourselves about the reality on the ground. To accept anything less, is to be lulled into the sort of complacency that will destroy us. Swallowing the blue pill that “all is fine now” and believing “we turned around a woke company” with so little effort only serves those who want to change our politics for their woke ends.

We should resist the temptation and buckle up for a longer and more arduous fight.