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Harley-Davidson Drops DEI: The August 2024 Statement, Read Closely

On August 19, 2024 Harley-Davidson said it had no DEI function, no quotas and no supplier diversity goals, after weeks of online pressure. What changed and what it said.

By The WokeCorp Team Updated October 15, 2026
A black Harley-Davidson Softail Springer motorcycle parked on cobblestones
A 2008 Harley-Davidson Softail Springer Screamin' Eagle. · Photo: Pierre André Leclercq via Wikimedia Commons. CC BY 4.0.

Harley-Davidson said on Monday, August 19, 2024 that it had not operated a DEI function since April and did not have one now. The statement, posted on X, followed weeks of online pressure from conservative activist Robby Starbuck, who had started posting about the company in July. Harley also said it had no hiring quotas, no longer had supplier diversity spending goals and had stopped consulting the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index.

Harley’s own account is that the changes grew out of an internal stakeholder review that began earlier in the year. Starbuck counted the result as a win anyway. Both can be true, and that tension is what makes the case worth reading closely.

Key Findings

  • Harley-Davidson’s statement said it had “not operated a DEI function since April 2024” and had none at the time (The Hill).
  • It said it had no hiring quotas and no longer had supplier diversity spend goals (The Hill).
  • It stopped consulting the HRC Corporate Equality Index, which rates companies on LGBTQ+ workplace policies, and dropped socially motivated content from training (CNBC).
  • Sponsorship decisions would be made by the company and its foundation, with the focus on keeping its loyal riding community. Support for first responders, active military and veterans continued.
  • Starbuck had posted a list of grievances about Harley in July and called the result another win for his movement. HRC’s Eric Bloem called the decision impulsive.
  • The move came about a month after John Deere’s and two months after Tractor Supply’s. Brown-Forman, Lowe’s and Ford followed within ten days.

What did Harley-Davidson have before?

The statement is the best record of what existed, because it describes what stopped. Harley had a corporate DEI function until April 2024. It had supplier diversity spending goals, which it said it no longer has. It took part in the HRC’s Corporate Equality Index, which scores companies on nondiscrimination policies, inclusive benefits and related practices. And its training included content the company now described as socially motivated.

None of that was unusual for a large US manufacturer in the years after 2020. What was unusual was the customer base.

A motorcycle's handlebars and mirror on a tree-lined road

Harley-Davidson’s brand rests on a specific American riding culture. Its August 2024 statement said sponsorships would now focus on keeping that riding community. Photo: K via Pexels. Pexels License.

How did the campaign unfold?

By mid-2024 Starbuck’s method was established. He had pushed Tractor Supply into changes in June and John Deere in July, each time by posting a company’s DEI commitments for the customers he said it was out of step with. In July he turned to Harley-Davidson, posting a list of grievances and claiming the company had gone woke.

Harley’s statement said the changes followed an internal stakeholder review from earlier in the year. It also said the company was saddened by “the negativity on social media over the last few weeks” (CNBC). That is a company saying the review came first while conceding the pressure was real.

What changed?

The statement was specific about what was gone:

  1. The DEI function. None since April 2024.
  2. Quotas. Harley said it did not have hiring quotas.
  3. Supplier diversity. No more spending goals for minority-owned suppliers (Bloomberg via EBN).
  4. The HRC index. Harley stopped consulting it.
  5. Training. Socially motivated content came out.
  6. Sponsorships. Decided by the company and its foundation, aimed at keeping the riding community.

This was not a vague statement about reviewing an approach. It named the programs.

Harley did not apologize for its earlier programs or call them mistakes. It said it wanted an employee base that reflects its customers and the places it operates, and that everyone should get to enjoy riding a Harley-Davidson.

A man in a plaid shirt and sunglasses sitting on a black cruiser motorcycle

Harley’s statement listed what had stopped: the DEI function, supplier diversity spending goals, the HRC index and socially motivated training content. Photo: Mattsmith569 via Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.

Why is this case different from the quieter retreats?

Many companies changed DEI programs in 2024 without saying so. Harley put its changes in a public statement, which makes a before-and-after possible.

The same statement also carries two explanations. One is an internal review that began before the campaign. The other is a company reacting to weeks of social media pressure. Starbuck counted it as a win. HRC said the decision put politics ahead of the interests of workers and consumers.

The legal backdrop mattered too. After the 2023 Supreme Court decision ending race-conscious college admissions, experts predicted effects on corporate hiring and recruiting. Companies with legal exposure and companies with customer exposure ended up in the same place by different routes, and Harley had some of both.

What this tells you about the model

The Starbuck playbook exploits a mismatch. Programs adopted with investors, rating agencies and recruiting in mind can sit badly with a customer base skeptical of corporate social activism, and a motorcycle brand built on a particular American riding culture is close to the extreme case.

When those pressures collide, the customer whose purchase hits the income statement usually wins. The lesson isn’t that DEI is good or bad. It’s that a program a company can’t explain in terms of what it accomplished is hard to defend once the pressure arrives. Harley’s statement defended its values in general terms and gave up the specific programs.

The same pattern shows up across the broader DEI retreat and in the John Deere rollback a month earlier. For the evidence on which interventions work, see DEI by the numbers.

Corporate meeting representing stakeholder pressure dynamics

Starbuck’s method routes a company’s DEI commitments to the customers he says they are out of step with. For brands whose core buyers distrust corporate activism, that mismatch carries commercial weight. Photo: fauxels via Pexels. Pexels License.

The WokeCorp assessment

The commitment. A corporate DEI function, supplier diversity spending goals, HRC index participation and training with social content.

The outcomes. The DEI function was gone by April 2024. On August 19 Harley said the supplier goals, HRC participation and socially motivated training were gone too. Starbuck claimed a win, HRC called the move impulsive, and Harley pointed to a review that began earlier in the year.

The core question. Harley’s retreat came after a direct, organized customer campaign. That sequence, public commitment, organized pressure, reversal, is now a documented playbook. Brown-Forman, Lowe’s and Ford all moved within ten days, which suggests other companies were watching.

Compare with John Deere Rolls Back DEI in 2024: What Changed.

Sources

Read October 2026.

  • CNBC via NBC Chicago, “Harley-Davidson drops diversity efforts after online pressure,” August 20, 2024
  • The Hill, “Harley-Davidson hits brakes on diversity, equity and inclusion program,” August 2024
  • Bloomberg via Employee Benefit News, “Harley-Davidson drops DEI efforts,” August 2024
  • Human Rights Campaign Corporate Equality Index methodology, hrc.org
  • Dobbin, F. and Kalev, A. “Why Diversity Programs Fail.” Harvard Business Review, July 2016