Boycott Miami

Corporate body

Boycott Miami

1990-1993

The “Boycott Miami” campaign – also known as the “Quiet Riot” – was a 1,000 day long Black-led economic boycott of Miami’s tourist industry that took place between July 17th 1990 and May 12th 1993. In immediate terms, the Boycott began because of controversy surrounding Nelson Mandela’s June 1990 visit to Miami, however, anger had been simmering in Black Miami for decades previous due to systemic economic inequality and anti-Black violence. The 1980s was a long decade of charged racial unrest in Miami as well as throughout the wider U.S. Miami specifically witnessed the 1980 Liberty City riots, which were instigated following the death of Black salesman Arthur McDuffie at the hands of at least four white police officers, none of whom were charged in relation to his death. Nonetheless, during the 1980s and in the years beforehand Miami enjoyed a bustling tourist industry, bringing in millions of dollars’ worth of revenue each year; Black Miamians, however, were actively excluded from this lucrative industry both via opportunities to work and building businesses of their own. The events of June 1990, thus, were merely a tipping point.
Nelson Mandela, who had been released from prison four months previously after serving a twenty-seven-year sentence, was due to visit Miami in June 1990. Shortly before arriving in Miami, Mandela appeared on ABC-TV’s “Nightline” and expressed his appreciation for the support of Fidel Castro, Yasser Arafat, and Moammar Gadhafi. The Miami City Commission rescinded a proclamation in Mandela’s honor and Miami Mayor, Xavier Suarez, joined four other Cuban-American mayors in signing a letter that branded Mandela’s comment as “beyond reasonable comprehension” (qtd. in Schmich). Outraged by the actions of Miami’s commissioners, Harold T. Smith, lawyer and Chairman of the South Florida Coalition for a Free South Africa, delivered a letter to Miami Mayor Xavier Suarez, demanding that he and his fellow commissioners provide an official welcome for Mandela, comprised of at least a key to the city and an official proclamation. Smith’s letter received no response. Meanwhile, on July 5th, a group of sixty-two Haitian people, who were protesting the mistreatment of a Haitian customer at a Cuban-owned clothing store, were beaten and arrested by Miami police. This incident of police brutality further exacerbated an already tense atmosphere between Miami’s Black population and the city.
Smith, who, along with others, was instrumental in bringing the National Bar Association convention to Miami, was contacted by another lawyer and then a member of the National Medical Association who both stated that if Mandela was not welcomed to Miami then they would not feel welcome. Smith decided to move the convention out of Miami and the Boycott was officially born on July 17th. Very shortly afterwards, other organizations such as the Omega Psi Phi fraternity and the National Medical Association contacted Smith and canceled their conferences in solidarity and, upon hearing about what was going on, yet more organizations canceled too. Very quickly, many local, state, and national (mainly Black) organizations, such the National Conference of Black Mayors, the National Black Prosecutors Association, the National Alliance of Postal and Federal Employees, the National Forum for Black Public Administrators, and the National Association of Black Journalists, the American Civil Liberties Union, and the National Organization for Women canceled meetings and conventions that were scheduled to take place in the Greater Miami area. Smith described the rapidly evolving boycott as a “spontaneous economic combustion” (qtd. in Rowe). In total, tourism officials estimated that about fifty groups comprised of over 20,000 delegates canceled conventions in Dade County as a direct result of the boycott. The Boycott galvanized trans-ethnic Black solidarity as Victor Curry, former pastor of Liberty City's Mount Carmel Baptist Church, commented: “I've never in my life seen the African community - Jamaicans, Haitians, West Indians, and American blacks - come together like this” (qtd. in Rowe).
Smith and his associates from Miami-Dade’s Black Lawyers Association and representatives from other local Black organizations stated that the Boycott would end when the following demands were met by the city: a public apology by elected officials for their failure to welcome Mandela during his visit; a federal investigation of the July 5th arrests at the Biscayne Plaza shopping center; a review of U.S. immigration policy, which Boycott organizers stated favors non-Black immigrants; a replacement of the at-large election system with district voting in order to strengthen black voting power; and substantial reforms in Dade's tourism industry to allow increased employment and business opportunities for Black people. The sixteen months of negotiations between Boycott Miami and community and business leaders began acrimoniously; however, the Boycott was officially declared over on May 12th 1993 when all parties eventually reached an agreement. Under the guidance of a new thirteen-member tri-ethnic group called “Miami Partners for Progress,” chaired by Smith and James Batten of Knight-Ridder Inc., a multi-tiered economic package was agreed upon. The settlement terms included scholarships to send 125 black students to college during the subsequent five years; increased deposits and other support in order to strengthen Black financial institutions; and concerted efforts to steer more supply contracts to minority-owned businesses. In the context of all Dade tourism, the Boycott's estimated overall impact was $50 million, which was 0.25 percent of $20.4 billion in tourism business during the Boycott (Yanez).

Laura Bass
UGrow Fellow for the Department of Manuscripts and Archives Management, 2019-2020

Works Cited

Rowe, Sean. “The Quiet Riot.” Miami New Times, 26 Sept. 1990, www.miaminewtimes.com/news/the-quiet-riot-6365134.

Schmich, Mary T. “Boycott by Blacks Costs Miami.” Chicago Tribune. 27 Jan. 1991, www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1991-01-27-9101080583-story.html.

Yanez, Luisa. “Blacks End Tourism Boycott of Dade.” South Florida Sun Sentinel. 13 May 1993, www.sun-sentinel.com/news/fl-xpm-1993-05-13-9302110570-story.html.

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Laura Bass, UGrow Fellow, 2020