There seems to be a change in people’s attitudes toward the great racial divide. Mississippi has voted to remove the Confederate symbol from its state flag. The NFL has decided that taking a knee to express one’s support for Black Lives Matter is now OK (although they still have yet to mention Colin Kaepernick) and there is no room for any form of racism in the league (except of course when it comes to cheering on the Redskins). Even Aunt Jemima is getting a make-over (whatever that means).
Yes, it appears people are finally finding the moral courage to stand up, taking action and saying change is needed, but what is really behind the states, sports leagues and companies change of heart. Could there be another motive behind this new way of thinking.
It was back in 1955 (when America was great) that the Montgomery Bus Boycott, a civil rights campaign took place. African Americans refused to ride city buses in Montgomery, Alabama, to protest segregated seating which took place.
A group of black women working for civil rights, began circulating flyers calling for a boycott of the bus system the day Rosa Parks, who refused to give up a seat for a white bus rider, would be tried in municipal court.
At the time, African Americans represented nearly 75% of Montgomery’s bus ridership. At the beginning, the city resisted complying with the protester’s demands. To ensure the boycott could be sustained, black leaders organized carpools and the city’s African American taxi drivers charged only 10 cents—the same price as bus fare—for African American riders.
Many black residents chose simply to walk to work or other destinations. Black leaders organized regular mass meetings to keep African American residents mobilized around the boycott.
The boycott proved extremely effective with enough riders lost to the city transit system to cause serious economic distress. Many other factors also played a role in lifting segregated seating regulations. Legal skirmishes were fought with the case making its way to the United States Supreme Court who ruled segregation on public buses and transportation was against the law.
The Montgomery Bus Boycott was not the only act of “civil disobedience.” The A.F.L. All-Star game was moved from New Orleans to Houston in 1965 after black players were left stranded at the airport for hours when they arrived in town. Once in the city African American players were refused cab service and in some cases those who were given rides were dropped off miles from their destinations. Other players were refused admittance to nightspots and restaurants, with many subjected to verbal abuse and a hostile atmosphere on Bourbon Street in the French Quarter.
New Orleans had been pitching an attempt to attract a professional football franchise whether in the A.F.L. or the N.F.L. for years. It took an additional two years after fumbling the A.F.L. All-Star Game for the city to bring enough change for them to get a NFL franchise.
Economic boycotts are nothing new. Countries have applied those tactics for years against each other with various degrees of success. America was founded, in part, by boycotting British goods under the umbrella of “No taxation without representation”.
So it’s no surprise companies, sports leagues and states are now embracing equal rights and Black Lives Matter. They can sense a movement and with that comes economic opportunity or ruin. When it comes to enacting change, the all-mighty dollar can be more of a powerful weapon than simply wanting to do the right thing.
