Julian Zelizer: Arizona Law Foes' Best Weapon is Dollars
[Julian E. Zelizer is a professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School. His new book is "Arsenal of Democracy: The Politics of National Security: From World War II to the War on Terrorism," published by Basic Books. Zelizer writes widely about current events.]
...Pro-immigration groups have started a national boycott against Arizona. The boycott promises to be substantial in scale and scope. San Francisco, California, Mayor Gavin Newsom has announced that he will ban city employees from traveling to the state. Los Angeles officials are considering doing the same. There is growing pressure on Major League Baseball to pull next year's all-star game out of Phoenix if the law is not changed. In other words, Arizona has a potentially big economic problem on its hands.
The economic boycott has been a powerful tool in the struggle for social rights. During the civil rights era, African-American activists used boycotts to create pressure for social change and to draw national attention to their cause.
In 1955, African-Americans in Alabama launched a boycott of the bus system in Montgomery after local civil rights activist Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white rider. Given that African-Americans constituted a large part of the ridership, the boycott hurt the city's revenue base. As people found alternative ways to get to work and school, the boycott drew national attention.
Northerners expressed support for the boycott and gave donations. Several national leaders emerged, including the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Ralph Abernathy, who would remain at the forefront of the struggle through the 1960s. The boycott ended in 1956 when the Supreme Court declared that the segregated transit system was unconstitutional.
The boycott was also central in the fight for labor justice and union rights. In 1965, the United Farm Workers Organizing Committee, under the leadership of Cesar Chavez, launched a national boycott against grapes. The five-year boycott, called "la huelga," placed immense pressure on California grape growers to recognize the union. The boycott drew national attention to the plight of unorganized immigrant workers in low-paying and dangerous jobs.
"Go to the public," Chavez told workers, "and tell them what it is that we need, and get them to help us. ..." The union floated balloons in Toronto, Ontario, supermarkets that said "Boycott Grapes" and organized postcard writing campaigns to A &P grocery offices in major cities....
Not every boycott works. But there is a strong track record....
Hispanics, the fastest-growing voting bloc in the United States, could soon start to show just how much economic and political muscle they have.
Read entire article at CNN.com
...Pro-immigration groups have started a national boycott against Arizona. The boycott promises to be substantial in scale and scope. San Francisco, California, Mayor Gavin Newsom has announced that he will ban city employees from traveling to the state. Los Angeles officials are considering doing the same. There is growing pressure on Major League Baseball to pull next year's all-star game out of Phoenix if the law is not changed. In other words, Arizona has a potentially big economic problem on its hands.
The economic boycott has been a powerful tool in the struggle for social rights. During the civil rights era, African-American activists used boycotts to create pressure for social change and to draw national attention to their cause.
In 1955, African-Americans in Alabama launched a boycott of the bus system in Montgomery after local civil rights activist Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white rider. Given that African-Americans constituted a large part of the ridership, the boycott hurt the city's revenue base. As people found alternative ways to get to work and school, the boycott drew national attention.
Northerners expressed support for the boycott and gave donations. Several national leaders emerged, including the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Ralph Abernathy, who would remain at the forefront of the struggle through the 1960s. The boycott ended in 1956 when the Supreme Court declared that the segregated transit system was unconstitutional.
The boycott was also central in the fight for labor justice and union rights. In 1965, the United Farm Workers Organizing Committee, under the leadership of Cesar Chavez, launched a national boycott against grapes. The five-year boycott, called "la huelga," placed immense pressure on California grape growers to recognize the union. The boycott drew national attention to the plight of unorganized immigrant workers in low-paying and dangerous jobs.
"Go to the public," Chavez told workers, "and tell them what it is that we need, and get them to help us. ..." The union floated balloons in Toronto, Ontario, supermarkets that said "Boycott Grapes" and organized postcard writing campaigns to A &P grocery offices in major cities....
Not every boycott works. But there is a strong track record....
Hispanics, the fastest-growing voting bloc in the United States, could soon start to show just how much economic and political muscle they have.