Is boycotting really a good way to get people on your side?

[Mr Slugger]

Ah, but in those cases it's not a STRONG boycott.

Exactly but if say Walmart today said "ok ok we'll treat our employees better" I'm sure the boycotters would say look we made them change, whether the boycott was the real reason or not.

And getting back to the original comment. The comments that were being thrown around were "It worked for black people when they boycotted segregated bus companies it will work for us with Maine." In reality chances are those companies functioned where a boycott was strong enough to hurt the bus company so they gave up, but I don't consider that to a major reason why things are the way they are today. It was getting people on your side that changed things.

And I'm sure say Provincetown (a gay friendly town) enacted a law that pissed them off a boycott would probably work, but not on a state level. You're much better off continuing to try to get people on your side.

A group to say eh we don't like what you did to us, so we're going to boycott you, regardless of whether the boycott works or not will work in the sense that the people of that state know that people are boycotting you because of what little more than half the state said no to.

[Tanasi]

Hmm - hadn't heard of that one. Anyone know if it's been followed or forgotten? Was it just black people in this, or were there whites as well?

Rapscallion

The story behind it, is the State of South Carolina flew the Army of Northern Virgina's Battle-flag from the state house. So to put pressure on the state to remove it several groups black and otherwise officially boycotted the state. After a few years the state legislature finally removed the flag from the state house and started flying it at a Confederate memorial that is located on the state house grounds. Some groups dropped their boycot others didn't.
All that being said I'm not tied into the tourism figures of SC so I don't know but frankly I don't think the boycot meant a hill of beans.
I'm my AO very few persons of color vacation here.

[Slytovhand]

I've been boycotting Ferrari and Porsche for years due to their ridiculously high prices - doesn't seem to have done a damn thing!

I recall the 'Don't buy petrol from this lot or on this particular day' boycotts... doesn't work - mostly because they're misdirected. You don't buy your fuel on Thursday, but on Friday - hurts no-one! For that to be effective, you need to ONLY buy fuel (preferably at a different station).. cos the profits aren't in the fuel, it's in the add-on sales. And, most importantly - LOTS of people have to do it!

Which is where Nestle comes in... finally, after years of bad press and boycotts, they've changed the policy on where they get their chocolate from. It took years and years, but it was done.

As for boycotting a state... how? If they're serious, it's not the boycotts that will work, but the continued publicity.. like a picket line or something. And, of course, lots and lots and lots of letters and emails... and publicity.. no publicity - not a lot will happen!