Rev. William Terry Ladd III, senior pastor of the historic First Baptist Church on East 8th Street in Chattanooga, Tennessee, has joined outspoken megachurch pastor Jamal Bryant in criticizing the National Baptist Convention USA for accepting a $75,000 donation from retail giant Target amid an ongoing boycott over its scaling back of diversity, equity and inclusion policies.
“As pastor of this church for the past 16 years and as a member of the National Baptist Convention USA incorporated over 25 years, I deeply regret the convention’s decision to accept the donation from Target for two key reasons,” Ladd said during services last weekend, according to The Chattanooga Free Press.
Ladd argued that the NBC USA, the largest predominantly African American religious convention in the United States, should not have accepted the donation from Target due to significant disparities that he says black residents in his town face compared to their white counterparts, such as in income.
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Citing data from the 2024 “State of Black Chattanooga” report from the Urban League of Greater Chattanooga, Ladd said the median income for black families in Hamilton County is only 55% of the median white family income.
“When Target reduces the DEI efforts, it exacerbates these already critical conditions,” Ladd said, “pushing marginalized communities even further to the edges.”
The pastor argued that diversity is beneficial to society.
“It fosters creativity, drives innovation and builds cohesion,” Ladd said. “Companies like Target that abandon DEI initiatives will not remain strong. Instead, they will suffer. Turning away from diversity alienates the employees … diminishes trust among consumers and undermines long-term growth and stability.”
He stated that his church will be watching to see what the convention does with the Target donation. And if they are not satisfied after a year, they will request that the denomination return the funds.
“As pastor, I will actively monitor how the National Baptist Convention allocates and administers the Target donation,” Ladd said. “I will continue to support the convention for at least one more year. However, if no clear, strategic plan is implemented, at that time, I will ask our convention to give the money back, and I will also ask them to make sure that we stay unified with other organizations as it relates to making sure that diversity, equity and inclusion is maintained.”
Target is among several large corporations, including rival Walmart, that have reevaluated their DEI policies in the aftermath of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2023 ruling, which found admissions policies of the University of North Carolina and Harvard University that use race as a factor were unconstitutional.
Bryant, who leads New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Stonecrest, Georgia, launched the national boycott against Target in February to protest what he called a “spit in the face of black people.”
In June, Bryant accused NBC USA and other historically black church denominations, including the Church of God in Christ, of accepting a collective $300,000 donation from Target amid the ongoing dispute over DEI.
Bryant made the claim from his pulpit, just two months after rejecting an offer from Target to fulfill the company’s pledge to invest $2 billion into black-owned businesses by July 31 to settle the dispute.
The pastor alleged that the Target donation was split four ways between the NBC USA, the National Baptist Convention of America, the National Missionary Baptist Convention and the predominantly black Pentecostal Church of God in Christ. The denominations collectively represent approximately 16 million members nationwide.
In addition to the demand that Target honors its $2 billion pledge to the black business community “through products, services, and black media buys,” Bryant’s Target Fast campaign called on the retailer to deposit “250 million amongst any of our 23 black banks;” restore “the franchise commitment to DEI;” and “pipeline community centers at 10 [historically black colleges and universities] to teach retail business at every level.”
Instead of addressing all the demands, he accused Target of seeking to go around him to find partners who would, in his words, “sell out” the black community.
Boise Kimber, president of NBC USA, denied selling out the black community to Target in a statement last month.
“The National Baptist Convention USA is committed to ensuring that corporations that do business in our communities give back to help rebuild and stabilize neighborhoods. The partnership with Target Corporation is based on our shared commitment to community empowerment,” Kimber said.
“If I thought Target was not sincere in their commitment to the African American community — I would be the first one on the picket line. Our communication with Target has been at the highest level and we are continuing the dialogue,” he added.
In April, Target CEO Brian Cornell met with African American civil rights leader Rev. Al Sharpton, who called the meeting “very constructive.” Sharpton said he planned on reaching out to Bryant and other allies about the meeting.
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