Sharpton & Jackson Call for Boycott of BP, Arco & Amoco

BlackNews.com - African Americans Call For Boycott of BP, Arco, and Amoco Gas Stations

This article is about Sharpton, Jackson and others calling for a boycott of British Petroleum due to lack of diversity among top level employees, dealers and suppliers.

I have to call it like I see it here. I think this is a waste of time and resources that serves little purpose. Now I don't deny that BP probably is not diverse or that it has little in the way of African-American suppliers, so they're not getting a get out of jail free card. My issue here gets down to what is the priority and given limited resources, where these guys ought to spend their time.

There are numerous gas stations that are owned by Indians from the subcontinent here in America. I've not heard these Indians ever calling for boycotts. Instead they've quietly pooled their money and have targeted certain economic areas they're going to control. As a natural evolution, some of these guys, or those who will succeed them, will likely become a base of suppliers for BP and other oil companies. They won't be seeking to expand those relationships based on boycotts. Instead the business relationship will expand due to compelling business reasons. In other words, what they have to offer from the standpoint of trade will become the compelling reasons to expand the business relationship. In other words, the relationship will expand on the basis of trade, not aid.

There's no question we got a raw deal in this country, to put it mildly. There was a time where the civil rights model was needed to secure our rights. But it is my feeling that we must depart from the idea that every solution to what ails us is a function of what someone else must do rather than what we must do. The easiest thing in the world to do is to marshall resources to call for boycotts and protests. It is quite another matter to look at African-American communities and the condition of our people and try to determine what we ourselves should do to address some of our issues. The former requires nothing other than calling on others to change, while the latter requires assessment, planning and accountablity. The former gives an easy way out as we can always blame other people for our lack of progress because they didn't do something, whereas the latter puts us squarely in control of what happens to us. The latter position, I might add, is where power lies and if there's anything that African-Americans truly need in this country, it's power. There have been no people that have acquired power wholly on the basis of what they've been able to convince someone to give them. Power comes from what you're able to give yourself.

Where should Jackson, Sharpton & Co be spending their time? The music industry along with Hip Hop artists are the greatest purveyors of glorified misogynist and criminal behaviors that our children listen to and emulate. How about mounting some protests and boycotts against the music and Hip Hop industries on continual basis until this stops? How about organizing our communities to rid ourselves of the miscreant element that is destroying our communities? We can hardly secure the promise of economic development in our communities with the criminal element abound being encouraged by its glorification in Hip Hop lyrics.

I don't think I'll hold my breath waiting for these two to address these and other issues. I'm sorry to rant, but I'm just sick of the nonsense.