By April Ryan
(NNPA Newswire) – “This is the start and the impact has to be measured beyond one day or month,” implored Marc Morial CEO and president of the National Urban League as everyday citizens, activists, churches and grassroots groups are preparing for an economic blackout slated for Feb. 28.
The 24-hour blackout, prohibiting any purchasing, is an attempt to protest efforts to end DEI in corporate America and the federal government.
The African-American community alone has almost $2 trillion in buying power, and when Black and Brown communities are combined it is an almost $5 trillion buying power.
Morial remembers the significance of boycotts in the 1960s with the understanding that “the use of selective purchasing is meant to demonstrate the power of consumers to support businesses that share their values and is inspired by the lessons of the Montgomery Bus Boycott.”
For 13 months during that historic boycott, African Americans refused to use any bus services because of the arrest of Rosa Parks for sitting in the White section of a public bus in 1955. The economic impact was felt as 90 percent of Black residents stayed off the buses. The unexpectedly highly publicized grassroots boycott ended with the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that segregation on public buses is unconstitutional.
As the emergence of exclusionary practices is now mainstreamed, “Increasingly, community leaders and people are looking for new ways to flex their power beyond and in addition to voting and political power,” says Morial, the former mayor of New Orleans.
Currently, there are active protests against Target, which curtailed its DEI programs and spending, incensing many civil rights leaders and other communities affected by its retrenchment. Also, there is a new effort calling for a religious fast from Target for Lent in March.
There is an expectation President Donald Trump will offer more comments about the anti-DEI actions the administration will be taking in his address to Congress from the well of the House next week.
Morial advises Americans, particularly African Americans, to “pay attention to the consumer spending numbers and consumer confidence index numbers” as these boycotts and economic blackouts continue, suggesting they are indicators that the movements are or are not making a difference.
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