{"id":720,"date":"2014-04-30T11:54:00","date_gmt":"2014-04-30T11:54:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2014\/04\/race-racism-and-the-power-of-boycotts.html"},"modified":"2014-04-30T11:54:00","modified_gmt":"2014-04-30T11:54:00","slug":"race-racism-and-the-power-of-boycotts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2014\/04\/race-racism-and-the-power-of-boycotts.html","title":{"rendered":"#Race, #Racism and the Power of #Boycotts"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>
by Andre E. Johnson<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n
R3 Editor<\/span><\/div>\n

<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
In what would become his last <\/span>public speech,<\/a> Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, in Memphis, Tennessee, told the audience in Mason Temple that night:<\/span><\/div>\n
\n

Now the other thing we\u2019ll have to do is this: Always anchor our external direct action with the power of economic withdrawal\u2026..We don\u2019t have to argue with anybody. We don\u2019t have to curse and go around acting bad with our words. We don\u2019t need any bricks and bottles. We don\u2019t need any Molotov cocktails. We just need to go around to these stores, and to these massive industries in our country, and say, \u201cGod sent us by here, to say to you that you\u2019re not treating his children right. And we\u2019ve come by here to ask you to make the first item on your agenda fair treatment, where God\u2019s children are concerned. Now, if you are not prepared to do that, we do have an agenda that we must follow. And our agenda calls for withdrawing economic support from you.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Further, he would say:<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

\n

And so, as a result of this, we are asking you tonight, to go out and tell your neighbors not to buy Coca-Cola in Memphis. Go by and tell them not to buy Sealtest milk. Tell them not to buy \u2014 what is the other bread? \u2014 Wonder Bread. And what is the other bread company, Jesse (Jackson)? Tell them not to buy Hart\u2019s bread. As Jesse Jackson has said, up to now, only the garbage men have been feeling pain; now we must kind of redistribute the pain. We are choosing these companies because they haven\u2019t been fair in their hiring policies; and we are choosing them because they can begin the process of saying they are going to support the needs and the rights of these men who are on strike.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In short, what King called for was a massive economic boycott. He called for all Americans not to shop at places that did not offer \u201cfair treatment to all of God\u2019s children.\u201d Indeed, at the time of King\u2019s death, he and his team was in the middle of planning the Poor People\u2019s campaign in Washington DC. The goal was simple\u2014to get about a million people to Washington DC and to have them camp outside all over the place\u2014effectively shutting down the city until government leaders met at least the minimum demands from the people. Of course after King\u2019s assassination, the movement never fully materialized. <\/span><\/p>\n

When we talk about boycotts today, many are quick to dismiss them all together. For instance, when people attempted to get support for a Florida boycott <\/a>in response to the Zimmerman <\/a>and Dunn<\/a> verdicts and the repeal of Stand Your Ground Laws, many said it simply would not work. Some analysts noted the \u201cspotty records of boycotts\u201d and wondered aloud how families would \u201ccancel their vacations to Disney World.\u201d Others offered concern that boycotts \u201churt the people they are attempting to help\u201d while others simply argued that state boycotts do not work. To be sure, when talking about boycotts of any kind, many lecture us about how the times have changed, while others simply laugh at and mock us\u2014suggesting that we are too idealistic in our thinking. <\/p>\n

While many celebrate<\/a> what NBA Commissioner Adam Silver did by banning the Clippers racist owner Donald Sterling from the NBA and will push for the league to have him sell his team, let us not forget what I believe was the catalyst for this strong reaction\u2014the players planned to boycott the games Tuesday night. Moreover, not only the Clippers and the Warriors, but all games that night\u2014the Bulls and the Wizards and the Thunder and my beloved Grizzlies. According to <\/a>NBAPA vice president Roger Mason Jr.,<\/a> \u201cplayers were prepared to sit out Tuesday night\u2019s Round 1 games if they were unsatisfied with the punishment levied by the league office.\u201d I guess they were not cowards <\/a>after all.<\/p>\n

So while the commissioner said<\/a> that the \u201cviews expressed by Mr. Sterling are deeply offensive and harmful. While the commissioner said that coming from \u201can NBA owner only heightens the damage and my personal outrage.\u201d While the commissioner said that the \u201csentiments of this kind are contrary to the principles of inclusion and respect that form the foundation of our diverse, multicultural and multiethnic league.\u201d While the commissioner said that he was, \u201cpersonally distraught\u201d by \u201cthe views expressed by Mr. Sterling, there was something else helping him to the podium that day and to take his \u201cstrong\u201d position. <\/p>\n

Hovering over his and the entire league\u2019s head was the threat of a player boycott. Businesses had already begun to withdraw their economic support<\/a> from the Clippers and now the players prepared to play its trump card\u2014boycott. Yes, the players would have been affected, the league affected, the fans affected, the owners affected, the networks affected and all who work directly and indirectly would have been affected, but as King reminded us, in a boycott, the pain is redistributed to all. <\/p>\n

Therefore, instead of saying that boycotts do not work\u2014, we know from this incident and from many others that they do<\/a>, let us just say this\u2014 boycotts do not work when we do not care. Boycotts do not work, when only a few people participate. Boycotts do not work, when we figure we have too much to lose. Boycotts do not work, when we can only see what we may lose instead of what we may gain. Boycotts do not work, when we are only thinking about ourselves and not the collective, and yes, boycotts do not work, when we are not ready to share in the pain that the boycott will bring. So yes, I guess in those cases, boycotts do not work.<\/p>\n

However, when we stand collectively, when we are prepared to make a statement, when we stand in our convictions, when we replace fear with faith, boycotts; a nonviolent way to resist evil, tend to work. It is simple how everything we take for granted today, any so called progressive idea or movement that we cherish and celebrate today came into being\u2014somebody, or better yet, some people, who many called crazy
\nand foolish at the time, decided to stand. Therefore, we do not have to cuss or fuss, any screaming or scheming, any cowering or bowing, just a simple request that Dr. King said that night:<\/p><\/div>\n

God sent us by here, to say to you that you\u2019re not treating his children right. And we\u2019ve come by here to ask you to make the first item on your agenda fair treatment, where God\u2019s children are concerned. Now, if you are not prepared to do that, we do have an agenda that we must follow. And our agenda calls for withdrawing economic support from you.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Andre E. Johnson R3 Editor In what would become his last public speech, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, in Memphis, Tennessee, told the audience in Mason Temple that night: Now the other thing we\u2019ll have to do is this: Always anchor our external direct action with the power of economic withdrawal\u2026..We don\u2019t have to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-720","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n#Race, #Racism and the Power of #Boycotts<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"by Andre E. JohnsonR3 EditorIn what would become his last public speech, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, in Memphis, Tennessee, told the audience in Mason\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2014\/04\/race-racism-and-the-power-of-boycotts.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"#Race, #Racism and the Power of #Boycotts\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"by Andre E. JohnsonR3 EditorIn what would become his last public speech, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, in Memphis, Tennessee, told the audience in Mason\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2014\/04\/race-racism-and-the-power-of-boycotts.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Rhetoric Race and Religion\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-04-30T11:54:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Guest Contributor\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Guest Contributor\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2014\/04\/race-racism-and-the-power-of-boycotts.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2014\/04\/race-racism-and-the-power-of-boycotts.html\",\"name\":\"#Race, #Racism and the Power of #Boycotts\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2014-04-30T11:54:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-04-30T11:54:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/#\/schema\/person\/2869b699bf0e57982cb1f212243705f2\"},\"description\":\"by Andre E. JohnsonR3 EditorIn what would become his last public speech, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, in Memphis, Tennessee, told the audience in Mason\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2014\/04\/race-racism-and-the-power-of-boycotts.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2014\/04\/race-racism-and-the-power-of-boycotts.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2014\/04\/race-racism-and-the-power-of-boycotts.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"#Race, #Racism and the Power of #Boycotts\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/\",\"name\":\"Rhetoric Race and Religion\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/#\/schema\/person\/2869b699bf0e57982cb1f212243705f2\",\"name\":\"Guest Contributor\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5010a3cc274cdb37811bf24de46dc280?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5010a3cc274cdb37811bf24de46dc280?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Guest Contributor\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/author\/admin\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"#Race, #Racism and the Power of #Boycotts","description":"by Andre E. JohnsonR3 EditorIn what would become his last public speech, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, in Memphis, Tennessee, told the audience in Mason","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2014\/04\/race-racism-and-the-power-of-boycotts.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"#Race, #Racism and the Power of #Boycotts","og_description":"by Andre E. JohnsonR3 EditorIn what would become his last public speech, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, in Memphis, Tennessee, told the audience in Mason","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2014\/04\/race-racism-and-the-power-of-boycotts.html","og_site_name":"Rhetoric Race and Religion","article_published_time":"2014-04-30T11:54:00+00:00","author":"Guest Contributor","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Guest Contributor","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2014\/04\/race-racism-and-the-power-of-boycotts.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2014\/04\/race-racism-and-the-power-of-boycotts.html","name":"#Race, #Racism and the Power of #Boycotts","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/#website"},"datePublished":"2014-04-30T11:54:00+00:00","dateModified":"2014-04-30T11:54:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/#\/schema\/person\/2869b699bf0e57982cb1f212243705f2"},"description":"by Andre E. JohnsonR3 EditorIn what would become his last public speech, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, in Memphis, Tennessee, told the audience in Mason","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2014\/04\/race-racism-and-the-power-of-boycotts.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2014\/04\/race-racism-and-the-power-of-boycotts.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2014\/04\/race-racism-and-the-power-of-boycotts.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"#Race, #Racism and the Power of #Boycotts"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/","name":"Rhetoric Race and Religion","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/#\/schema\/person\/2869b699bf0e57982cb1f212243705f2","name":"Guest Contributor","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5010a3cc274cdb37811bf24de46dc280?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5010a3cc274cdb37811bf24de46dc280?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Guest Contributor"},"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/author\/admin"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/720","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=720"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/720\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=720"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=720"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=720"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}