In a statement provided to Turning Point USA, a conservative Chick-fil-A owner-operator explained that customers shouldn’t blindly boycott locations, but instead should encourage corporate to abandon their diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives.
Recently, Chick-fil-A found itself at the center of controversy after a social media post highlighting the company’s DEI statement went viral. Conservatives who previously stood by the company after the left attempted to have the food chain canceled for its Christian values, felt abandoned by the formerly reliable brand.
The franchise owner, who asked to remain anonymous, told TPUSA that the company hasn’t pushed DEI policies for long, and does not ask independently-owned franchises to participate in any such initiatives. “There is a separation between corporate initiatives and local restaurants. They have never pushed, instructed, [or] required any local store to implement a DEI policy,” the franchise owner stated. “DEI literally stems from Marxist tradition, so I completely understand people feeling anger over finding out Chick-fil-A corporate has a whole department around this.”
Chick-fil-A’s corporate website now has a page dedicated to highlighting its DEI initiatives, beginning with a statement affirming its “commitment” to progressive mantras and standards.
The location owner was approached by Susannah Frost, Chick-fil-A’s VP of Operations about the DEI department. According to their statement, Frost said that “the DEI program was mostly for corporate staff and was created to answer concerns from minority corporate staff members.”
The franchise owner said that “Chick-fil-A has always erred on the side of ‘kindness'” which before 2020 wasn’t an issue, however in 2023, “kindness” is conflated with inclusion and acceptance of distinctly anti-American and anti-Christian values. “[A]ttempting to be ‘kind’ to all is actually giving credibility to a woke agenda.”
They also told TPUSA that many other lower-level employees as well as franchise owners do not agree with the corporate office’s decision to hire DEI staff, but many are unwilling to be confrontational about it.
The owner had a gracious attitude towards the corporate office’s stance, understanding that it can be tricky to know where to draw the line when it comes to “inclusive,” policies, especially on a legal front — but said that “Eventually, ignorance can’t be the excuse.”
“Chick-fil-A corporate needs to explain why we needed a DEI program if we were already treating everyone with honor, dignity, and respect,” the franchisee stated.
When asked what other Chick-fil-A franchise owners should do to combat the company’s culture shift, they emphasized that they have a responsibility to speak up. “[A]t minimum fill out our quarterly surveys explaining their disdain for DEI… But my hope is we keep talking about it with the executive committee and the Cathy family.”
The franchise owner TPUSA spoke with was not disturbed by the negative media attention Chick-fil-A received, but instead thought that the public spotlight should remain on the company. “I actually don’t want this to die down,” the franchise owner told TPUSA. “I want people to keep urging Chick-fil-A to be what we could be, and what we have been for many years.”
Researched and edited by Marisa Crate.
