If Boycotts Didn’t Work..
One of the earliest boycotts is the boycott in England of sugar produced by slaves. In 1791, after Parliament refused to abolish slavery, thousands of pamphlets were printed encouraging the boycott. This boycott lead to sales of sugar dropped by between a third and a half.
Here are some more examples of successful boycotts:
On June 5, 1956, a Montgomery federal court ruled that any law requiring racially segregated seating on buses violated the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. That amendment, adopted in 1868 following the U.S. Civil War, guarantees all citizens — regardless of race — equal rights and equal protection under state and federal laws.
This wouldn’t have happened if it weren’t for boycotts. African Americans made up 75% of Montgomery’s bus ridership, but they were still treated cruelly. When they boycotted the bus, it affected their business. Black leaders created carpools and black taxi drivers only charged black riders 10 cents to make sure this boycott lasted long enough to make an impact. Most importantly, they worked together as a community.
The four year boycott run by the National Anti-Hunt Campaign (NAHC) over John Lewis’staff pheasant shoots finally ended in victory, with the closure of the company’s Shooting Club. The campaign gained a higher profile in 2000 when Animal Aid added its voice and membership capacity to the boycott.
If boycotts didn’t work, this wouldn’t have been successful. This boycott was successful despite attempts by John Lewis, including libel writs and attempting to have one campaigner jailed for distributing leaflets on company property.
The Focus store group announced to Animal Aid that it was to cease the sale of all birds and small mammals. Animal Aid began its Focus campaign in February 2000, originally concentrating on the company’s sale of reptiles. Following hundreds of demonstrations at the company’s stores around the country, Focus’ reptile sales ended in October 2000.
Fruit of the Loom crumbled in the face of pressure from the largest ever student boycott. In an incredible about-face the company re-opened a Honduran factory it had closed after workers had unionised. Furthermore, it also gave all 1,200 employees their jobs back, awarded them $2.5 million in compensation and restored all union rights.
This campaign launched in 2009. United Students Against Sweatshops’ efforts led to 96 colleges severing their contracts with Fruit of the Loom. Ten British universities followed their lead. This boycott cost Fruit of the Loom approximately $50 million.
Nestlé gave in to pressure from Greenpeace and promised a zero deforestation policy in its palm oil supply chain. After just 8 weeks of intense campaigning and meetings with the company Nestle came come up with what Greenpeace described as a “comprehensive policy” that will be monitored by the Forest Trust.
Over 200,000 emails were sent. Activists demonstrated at Nestlé HQs worldwide. This immense amount of pressure came from people coming together to make a change, which is what boycotts are all about.
The United Methodist Church, a Presbyterian denomination that numbers over seven million members, said it will not invest in the five banks for financing “settlement activity” over the 1949 Armistice lines.
The five banks they boycotted were, Bank Hapoalim, Bank Leumi, First International Bank of Israel, Israel Discount Bank, and Bank Mizrahi-Tefaho.
No one ever said boycotts would be easy. It’s not like those people wanted to walk miles when they could take the bus during the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Those schools didn’t want to sever their contracts with Fruit of the Loom. That meant more work for them. However, they knew something needed to be done.
Just waving a flag at a game isn’t going to do anything but make a pretty picture. It might grab someone’s attention, but it won’t make much of an impact as far as change goes. I do agree that we need to show support for the LGBTQ individuals that aren’t safe where they live and can’t live in their truth out in the open. Sure–wave a flag for them. Just don’t expect it to coax any real changes. Real change starts to happen when you hit them where it hurts.
