Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/52019
African-Americans on state grounds, but even that hasn't persuaded pro boycott forces to soften their position. Sowhere dowe go fromhere? Is it time to end this boy- cott? Is it time to choose another tactic? Is it time to let this issue go altogether? Does the end justify the means? That's not for us to decide, but many African-Americans in South Carolina would argue that enough is enough. Lee H. Moultrie of Lee H. Moultrie and Associates in Charleston, SC and a noted civil rights activist, believes the national NAACP is hold- ing that state hostage and using the issue as a political pawn. "Somehow, we as African- Lee H. Moultrie with Obama Americans have to decide what we want to do," Moultrie says. Taking a cue from the recent Occupy Wall Street movement, Moultrie believes its time to "get busi- ness owners and young pro- fessional graduates to push back on the national NAACP," and at the appro- priate time lead efforts to get certain people out of their leadership position. While we understand the intent of the boycott, it might be the wrong tactic for the wrong time. The dynamics are different than the days of the Montgomery Bus Boycott of the 1950s when one racial group controlled an entire busi- ness. It was targeted and effective. Today, economic boycotts take on an entirely different paradigm. Nearly 30 percent of South Carolina's popula- tion is of African descent and in Columbia it's nearly half. Moultrie says he knows several Black-owned businesses that have disappeared because of the boycott including a restaurant where the former owner is now an employee. But not all groups are honoring the boycott. The Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Sixth District held their 65th annual meeting in Columbia last year and that district's Marshall Reginald Howell plans to bring his group back in a few years. Howell says, "we were catered to TWILA JONES especially well by all hosting entities and the Mighty Sixth District received proclamations of welcome from the Columbia City Council and Richland County." Twila Jones, sales manager at the Columbia works on attracting faith-based and fraternal groups to her city. She seldom brings up the boycott unless asked. While the boycott has made her job more difficult she has had some success stories to report including Alpha Phi Alpha who will be coming to Columbia in March 2012 after a 15- year absence. Ric Luber, president and CEO of the Midlands Authority for Conventions, Sports and Tourism and the overarching authority for the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center says, "from a tourism perspective, we have chosen to remain focused on the issues within our con- trol…despite the flag issue, we choose to showcase the areas within our community that truly reflect the forward move- ment of our city…currently, we have both an African- American Mayor and an African-American Chief of Police; something that would have been unheard of in years past. Having these two, and many others that serve the Columbia region in elected positions demonstrates how we as a com- munity have not let this issue overshadow our great capital city." Steve Benjamin, Columbia's African-American mayor is dealing with a tough economic climate that we can only guess is being exacerbated by lost convention business and resulting lower tax revenues. And herein lies the rub. Black-elected officials like the mayor and South Carolina Representative James Clyburn, the third highest-ranking member in the U.S. House of Representatives, are continually running up against the shadow of the boycott while trying to serve their con- stituents. NAACP President Benjamin Jealous doesn't appear too inclined to let up on the boycott following comments he made at this year's annual convention in Los Angeles. "Perhaps the most perplexing examples of the contradic- tion of this moment in history is that Nikki Haley, South Carolina's first Governor of Color continues to fly the con- federate flag in front of her state's capitol. Given the simi- larities between our struggles to end slavery and segrega- tion, and her ancestors' struggle to end British colonialism and oppression in India, my question to Governor Haley is one that Dr. King would often ask himself…what would Gandhi do?" I spent weeks calling leaders on both sides of this issue and most declined comment for fear of reprisal, unless of course they were advocating for the boycott. The symbolism of the Confederate Flag is painful and chilling. I shudder every time I see that flag, then I realized I was giving that flag power. I refuse to allow any piece of fabric no matter how symbolically painful to take control of my thoughts and actions, including visiting South Carolina. Rather than continuing to enforce a boycott that is eco- Metropolitan Convention and Visitors Authority nomically unfeasible for people of color in South Carolina, shouldn't we use the sight of that flag as a reminder of what the NAACP has stood for all these years and work even harder to achieve the ultimate objective – a more inclusive and just society? Just a thought! Black Meetings & Tourism November/December 2011: www.blackmeetingsandtourism.com 87