MIAMI -- The snub of Nelson Mandela was the last straw.
Miami politicians had planned to honor the South African leader during his June 1990 visit to the Magic City. That is, until Mandela, who spent nearly three decades in prison, voiced his support for Moammar Gadahfi, Yasser Arafat and Fidel Castro a week before his visit. Miami’s Cuban community couldn’t believe it and in turn, elected officials — from city commissioners to mayors — decided to rescind the proclamation.
In their rebuke of Mandela, prominent Miami attorney H.T. Smith saw a rebuke of Black Miamians like himself. So on July 17, 1990, he launched Boycott Miami, an effort that encouraged Black tourists and businesses to steer clear of the city until it had done right by its Black residents. The campaign, which lasted 1,000 days and was supported by the NAACP and other groups, cost the county an estimated $20 million to $50 million in tourism. It also led to the opening of Royal Palm Crowne Plaza, Miami Beach’s first Black-owned hotel, and thousands of scholarships for Black Miamians interested in hotel management.
Boycott Miami would not be the last time Black Americans would be cautioned against a Florida vacation. The NAACP’s recently issued travel advisory has called for a similar avoidance of the Sunshine State due to the work of Gov. Ron DeSantis. And while the two movements had different catalysts, they both occurred at points when elected officials showed very little care toward Black constituents.
“When you do things like boycott, what you’re doing is you’re checking the economic power,” said Msomi Moor, a Florida Memorial University African American Studies professor. “Traditionally, boycotts have been one tool in a much larger tool kit of initiatives that have brought about the advancement of the Black community.”
Boycott Miami came at a time when Black Miamians had become more frustrated at being left out of South Florida’s burgeoning tourism industry. Miami had also been the site of three riots during the 1980s over police killing four unarmed Black men. The NAACP’s advisory, however, is specifically linked to one thing: DeSantis’ policies.
“This is a public notice that Florida is not safe based on all the policies that have been put in place and the actions taken by the governor,” said Daniella Pierre, president of the NAACP’s Miami-Dade chapter.
Deeming DeSantis’ tenure an “all-out attack on Black Americans,” the travel advisory listed every piece of legislation enacted under the governor — including his attempts to ban books about race and LGBTQ+ issues, his efforts to criminalize protest and his ban of diversity, equity, and inclusion programs in Florida colleges — as examples to show that “Florida is openly hostile toward African Americans, people of color and LGBTQ+ individuals.”
“Unfortunately, the governor is using his platform to advance some of the most regressive, racist polices in his attempt to become the president of the United States,” NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson told MSNBC on Monday.
Pierre echoed Johnson’s response, calling DeSantis’ policies “harmful for Black Americans and people of color, particularly from vulnerable communities.”
Will Black business be the sacrificial lamb?
Stephanie Jones, the founder and CEO of Blacks in Travel & Tourism, disagrees with the NAACP’s tactics.
“To tell African Americans and people of color not to come to Florida as a way to boycott and address the efforts of DeSantis is not well thought out,” said Jones adding that “small, Black businesses in underserved communities will be used as the sacrificial lamb.”
Although Jones understands “how it feels to be Black here in Florida,” she questions whether or not the NAACP approached experts in the travel space like herself. She suggested that the NAACP partner with other adversaries of DeSantis, like Disney, to “leverage a partnership” that could showcase a unified front against a governor who called the potential Florida boycott “a joke” in March.
“If he’s not fazed by his fight with Disney, why would he care if the most marginalized residents and businesses are impacted?” Jones asked.
Pierre emphasized her NAACP chapter members’ connections to governing boards like the Miami-Dade small business task force and chamber of commerce that can help Black entrepreneurs, and her chapter’s increased work with the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau.
“We are reminding folks the power of the Black dollar,” Pierre said, adding that more information about how to support Black businesses will be forthcoming and distributed through local NAACP chapters.
In Miami-Dade alone, there are more than 7,000 Black-owned businesses, according to the Miami-Dade Chamber of Commerce. That figure alone complicates how Black entrepreneurs feel about the travel advisory, said Eric Knowles, the president and CEO of the chamber, explaining that many are “in between a rock and a hard place.”
“What’s happening in Tallahassee goes against everything we are as Black people,” Knowles said. He later explained how many Black entrepreneurs are still in recovery mode from the pandemic, which resulted in the loss of more than 40% of Black-owned businesses, according to Wells Fargo. That – coupled with the potential loss in tourism dollars for Black businesses — prevents Knowles from rallying behind the NAACP’s position.
“It’s going to affect and impact Black businesses and my first and foremost responsibility is to help and grow Black businesses,” Knowles added. He then offered a simple message:
“Come and support Black businesses because the Black community is being attacked.”
Similarly, Moor wants the national spotlight on DeSantis to bring about more interest in Florida’s Black business community. From the Seminole Wars to the Rosewood Massacre to the murder of Arthur McDuffie, Moor said the travel advisory was a long time coming considering Black Floridians “have been under siege” for quite some time.
“The rest of the nation needs to know” what’s happening in Florida, Moor said. He pointed to Boycott Miami’s effectiveness in pressuring local officials to create more opportunities for Black businesses, something he hopes will happen as a result of the travel advisory.
“My desire is that people can understand based off what’s going on in 2023 that the future of Black folks is not guaranteed,“ said Moor. “We have to deliberately, consciously create for us, by us and preserve what we create.”
