Shop til' you Drop

In the movie we watched during class this week, we saw several important issues that troubled Americans during the 1960's. The civil rights movement was an important quest for minorities to gain individual freedom and equality in America. In the southern states, it was a very difficult process, especially for African Americans. The movie mentioned one particular incident that I wanted to explain. There was one scene where they talked about a "boycott" on buying from white store owners. A boycott means not buying or using services from a particular company or group of corporations. The idea behind a boycott is that if enough people stop buying a company's merchandise, the company will suffer and perhaps have to shut down. In the southern states, many people began boycotting companies that discriminated against minorities. This included things such as not hiring minority employees, not allowing minorities to enter through the main door and forcing minorities to leave when white people needed service. The boycotts showed that minorities could effect the economy in a negative and positive way, and that they should be taken seriously as equal members of society.