Since the inauguration of Trump 2.0, major tech, retail, and other corporations have capitulated and cooperated with his administration’s reactionary agenda to roll back all of the gains of the Black freedom movement, women’s and LGBTQ rights, rights for the disabled, immigrant rights, and others.
Early examples included Meta (formerly known as Facebook) dropping its fact-checking arm and diversity programs and hiring pro-MAGA forces like Dana White of the UFC to sit on its board of directors and to mimic Elon Musk’s X’s (formerly known as Twitter) community notes feature. Further, under pressure from pro-MAGA shareholders, many big businesses have gutted their diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs and offices. This list includes Target, Southwest Airlines, PepsiCo, and more.
These companies that caved early on have begun to suffer major consequences from their consumers, who include those who urged these same corporations to invest in DEI during the period of the George Floyd Rebellion in 2020.
Target, for example, has been a primary target of the Black faith community, with Pastor Jamal Harrison Bryant out of Georgia leading the charge. Black progressives like Nina Turner and Tamika Mallory have also led a social media campaign against Target, which has garnered a lot of traffic and attention.
Also, on Feb. 28, the People’s Union led a national economic boycott against Target and other major retailers that have capitulated to the Trump agenda, spreading across social media on millions of platforms.
Moreover, Elon Musk’s Tesla has hit a major impasse by uniting a large spectrum of political and social forces internationally to boycott Tesla dealerships, cancel government contracts (in Europe), and more. Particularly in the U.S., the #TeslaTakedown actions have spontaneously risen out of frustration with the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which has slashed federal funding for many social programs and grants for research funding and conducted mass layoffs of public sector workers.
Musk and the Trump administration have responded with legal threats to the organizers as well as by launching a right-wing social media troll attack against them.
On the other hand, companies like Costco rebuffed efforts to drop their DEI programs. This led mainstream civil rights leaders like Rev. Al Sharpton of the National Action Network to organize “buy-ins” where African Americans were encouraged to shop at Costco in response to them not capitulating to the MAGA assault on Black people.
However, in this case, there was also a concern from the labor movement that the Black community would potentially cross the picket line after several Costco stores were held up in contract negotiations with the retail giant for months. An op-ed in People’s World at the time stated that the best chance for permanent DEI is to implement it in a union contract.
More recently, as of last weekend, the National Action Network announced a possible boycott of PepsiCo and gave them a 21-day notice to change their policy before the official boycott is launched. Notably, Coca-Cola has also rebuffed efforts to drop its DEI programs, which has some folks in the African-American community considering buying their products as an alternative.
Contradiction with the Palestine BDS Movement?
Due to the current U.S.-backed Israeli genocide against the Palestinian people in Gaza, the boycott, sanctions, and divestment (BDS) movement has garnered much more steam within the United States, leading to several campaigns around the country with some victories and some setbacks. Organizations like Jewish Voice for Peace and other municipal and/or state-oriented Palestine solidarity coalitions have led this effort around campaigning against Israel Bonds, getting city councils to pass divestment resolutions and more.
The BDS movement has a particular strategy that reflects the boycott and divestment movements against apartheid South Africa in the 1970s and 80s. Included in their boycott list are potential companies that may come into sharp contradiction with the African-American boycott movement in the United States.
As mentioned above, Coca-Cola has announced that it intends to retain its DEI policies and not cave in to the MAGA assault against it. In addition, the likelihood of a Sharpton-led boycott against PepsiCo will likely result in large sections of the African-American community buying Coca-Cola products, even though it is on the Palestine BDS list. Similarly, for the case of Costco, which only accepts Visa credit card payments, this may come into conflict with the “buy-ins” or “buycotts.”
It is also important to note that since the rise of the Palestine BDS movement in the United States, several state legislators and municipalities around the country have outlawed BDS, trying to tie it to supposed antisemitism. This has had a larger ripple effect by making it more difficult to organize against corporations engaging in exploitative practices and supporting imperialist war.
So, how would a Black Communist respond to this seemingly contradictory situation?
History shows us the way
The economic boycott has a long history in the African-American freedom struggle. The Communist Party and its participation in organizations like the National Negro Congress (NNC) staged boycotts of white businesses that refused to hire Black workers leading to campaigns to “not shop where you could not work.”
In 1941, in New York, the NNC boycotted two of the city’s private bus companies due to their refusal to hire Black drivers. The boycott was successful because the community showed up—community soup kitchens supported those who needed food, people with cars carpooled with those without, and donations were given to use the subway.
The transportation union also played a key role by working with the Black community to stop using Black workers as strikebreakers—a common boss tactic to divide workers—and promised to consider membership applications from every Black worker hired.
This boycott took place for approximately a month and led to the launch of Adam Clayton Powell’s political career in the New York City Council.
More known is the Montgomery Bus Boycott, led by Martin Luther King, Jr., following Rosa Parks’s refusal to give up her seat for a white rider. Similar to the New York boycott from the early 40s, boycotters organized carpools and were supported by Black taxi drivers who charged a fare equal to the bus fare.
The campaign lasted for a year until a federal court ruling declared that bus segregation was unconstitutional. This action gave King national prominence and gave more attention to the burgeoning Civil Rights movement, which would gain much steam in the 1960s.
In the 1980s, Jesse Jackson and Operation PUSH launched boycotts of the CBS television affiliates, Coca-Cola, Kentucky Fried Chicken, and Anheuser Busch. These boycotts took place during the period of the fight for Affirmative Action and the lack of diversity in these workplaces, including Black people on boards of directors of these major companies.
Jackson and PUSH gained significant victories, which included Coca-Cola donating over $34 million to Black businesses and hiring more Black workers. In the CBS case, Jackson demanded the network hire more African Americans for management and on-air positions and to use the services of more minority-owned businesses.
In conclusion, it is important for people’s movements to build mass coalitions with labor unions, faith communities, and solidarity organizations to work through all the contradictions of participating in a sustained boycott.
Reflecting on the successes of the Black freedom movement, consistency, unity, and solidarity are the most important components of a successful boycott. So, whether your neighbors are picketing in front of a Target or a Tesla dealership, it is essential to join them and offer a helping hand in widening the net of influence and consciousness among the community.
Strengthening a boycott means organizing a mass coalition and also getting organized labor to take a strong stance and to support the efforts of the community.
As with all op-eds published by People’s World, this article reflects the views of its author.
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