The News: Hours after WILL filed a civil rights complaint with the U.S. Department of Justice against Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) challenging its “Black Business Accelerator” (BBA) program, the major online retailer removed dozens of references to the program, scrubbing its websites, and insisting it no longer supports the program’s goals.
Since 2021, the BBA program has provided account credits, product support, education, and other services to Amazon sellers. Only businesses owned, managed, or controlled by black individuals are eligible for the program. Amazon is one of America’s largest federal contractors and suppliers, providing billions in services and products to federal agencies each year.
The Quotes: WILL Deputy Counsel, Dan Lennington, stated, “Amazon was caught red-handed and now they seem to be abandoning a program that would certainly trigger an investigation by the Trump Administration. Companies across the country are faced with a new reality: discrimination in the name of diversity will no longer be tolerated. We look forward to a response from the Trump Administration as they review our complaint and the overtly reactive response from America’s largest online retailer.”
Amazon Plays Cleanup: Following our complaint and multiple media inquiries from Breitbart News, Amazon insisted that the BBA program was discontinued. That’s despite multiple webpages and commentary as recently as May of 2025 stating the contrary. Even this week, Amazon has removed additional pages from its website that reference the program.
Additional Background: Since 2021, Amazon has operated the BBA, reportedly providing benefits to “thousands of entrepreneurs.” The purpose of the program is to help black-owned businesses expand as sellers on Amazon. Eligible businesses obtain several significant benefits, including a $500 enrollment credit, free imaging services, advertising credits, $1,000 in “Buy with Prime” credits, and opportunities to apply for grant opportunities. Racially targeted programs such as these open the door to federal inquiries, like the one we are asking for today.
President Trump’s Executive Order 14173 requires federal contractors, like Amazon, to abide by federal nondiscrimination law, and also orders agencies to investigate corporations that impose discriminatory DEI programs like the Black Business Accelerator. On May 19, 2025, the Department of Justice established the Civil Fraud Initiative “to identify and root out instances in which recipients of federal funds fail to uphold their basic obligations under federal civil rights laws,” according to Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche.
About WILL’s Equality Under the Law Initiative: WILL is a national legal and policy powerhouse based in the Midwest. The Equality Under the Law Project, which has targeted various programs within Biden’s Racial Equity Agenda both before, and after, the 2024 Presidential Election. WILL has had recent success under this initiative, successfully ending the “Minority Business Development Agency” and the “Disadvantaged Business Enterprise Program,” both of which were designed to help Americans of some races, but not other races.
