Lessons from history: can the boycott still be effective in the '90s?

Black Enterprise, March, 1996 by Eric L. Smith

The civil rights movement continues to celebrate its 40th birthday in 1996 as yearlong festivities mark the 381 days of the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Heralded as the spark that kicked off the civil rights movement, Rosa Parks' actions in 1955 changed a nation. But the question in 1996 is whether the boycott remains an effective tool for change.

While none could measure up to Montgomery for the sweeping changes it brought about, the economic boycott has been used effectively by groups across the country in times since. Last year alone, several boycotts were started across the country including:

* In Battleboro, N.C., earlier last year, a group of black residents calling themselves Concerned Citizens of Battleboro started a boycott of local white-owned businesses after police maced and arrested a 36-year-old black woman after she intervened in a police traffic stop involving her niece.

* A group of black ministers in Indianapolis planned a boycott effort against the city's $314 million Circle Centre mall following an announcement that the city was planning to allow its Metro bus system to privatize.

* And although no tangible results have been realized yet, several organizations, including the National Urban League, the National Bar Association and BLACK ENTERPRISE, have canceled convention dates in California following anti-affirmative action efforts by Gov. Pete Wilson.

"A boycott remains an effective tool because it's something everyone can participate in and because of its tradition rooted in the civil rights movement," says H.T. Smith, a Miami-based attorney. Smith spearheaded the boycott of Miami's tourism industry in 1990 that led to a $37 million 265-suite hotel that is black owned, now being developed on Miami's oceanfront. The boycott erupted after a perceived snub of Nelson Mandela by city officials upon his visit.

Smith says the Miami boycott was successful because it was easy to attract. participation.

"While everyone may not sit-in or picket, anyone that is concerned about a particular wrong can boycott because it's silly a matter of not spending your money with someone," he says.

The Montgomery bus boycott lasted a total of 381 days, ending on Dec. 21, 1956, after the U.S. Supreme Court declared bus segregation unconstitutional.

Smith says his group studied the Montgomery boycott before starting their initiative, but they used 1990s' strategies to get their message across. They created a 16-minute boycott video that was distributed throughout the country and created a rap song to get their message across. "Many people will not read 16 minutes' worth of paperwork, but the visual image we put together was so powerful we were able to galvanize tremendous support almost overnight," he says. And with new technology like the Internet, Smith believes the tools are available to keep the boycott a viable weapon, but he warned, "if you rely only on '60s' strategies such as picketing and passing out leaflets, you probably won't succeed."