Competing Boycotts

Checking out the fall TV line-up, I was overwhelmed with nostalgia when I saw that the Walt Disney Co. had cross-fertilized with its subsidiary, ABC, to revive The Wonderful World of Disney. This incarnation will feature broadcast premieres of such movies as Toy Story and Pocahontas, as well as a few original family films.

But who will be watching? With a plethora of competing boycott efforts, will anyone be tuned in?

First, boycotts are an important strategy in our "nonviolent arsenal." Although boycotts do not normally achieve immediate economic ends, they can affect public perceptions and build a strong and organized movement. But such actions should only be taken with considerable deliberation, because movements can also be derailed by such efforts, especially if support is weak.

Competing boycotts against one company further confuses the situation. Potential allies can become enemies, and the target company can play one group off another.

Disney is currently in this position. And many good people are left scratching their heads.

The Southern Baptist Convention's well-publicized decision this summer to encourage a boycott of Disney centered primarily on the corporation's decision not to exclude gay and lesbian organizations in outreach efforts for "group days," its commitment to provide spousal benefits for people in same-sex relationships, and its subsidiary's broadcast of Ellen's coming out. For the SBC, this demonstrated a move in an "anti-Christian and anti-family direction." Thus, the SBC asked its members "to take the stewardship of their time, money, and resources so seriously that they refrain from patronizing the Disney Co. and any of its related entities."

Similarly, ABC's critically acclaimed new hit Nothing Sacred has generated a call to boycott the network and Disney. This portrayal of a socially active inner-city priest has generated a negative response by some in the Roman Catholic church.

Father Thomas Dufner, a representative of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, told The Minneapolis StarTribune, "It's one of the most skillful misrepresentations of Catholicism that Hollywood has ever devised....Sympathetic viewers who identify with the kind-hearted social worker priest risk losing their faith."

At the same time, progressive and labor groups, including a number of Christian partners, are advocating a boycott of Disney for its subcontracting with sweatshops in Third World countries. Originally the boycott was called because Disney for 20 years had hired women in Haiti to sew Goofy bedsheets and other video tie-ins for 28 cents an hour. Due to the negative publicity, Disney has changed subcontractors and is now mistreating Chinese women instead.

Some people-myself included-are put into a difficult position of deciding whether to support or boycott this company. Friends in the gay and lesbian community have bought stock in Disney to support its stand in the midst of the SBC boycott. For some, this undermines their commitment to the concerns of working people. We are left with the tension of single-issue focus vs. a vision of the complexity of God's New Creation.

So, what practically should be done? Ultimately, for me there simply is a moral difference between a boycott planned because working people are being mistreated and one organized because its supporters feel too many people are being included in the benefits.

Singer-songwriter Bryan Sirchio has written a song for his new CD, Something More, titled "Dear Mr. Eisner." Sirchio encourages listeners to join him (and me) by mailing the lyrics (excerpted below) to: Michael Eisner, CEO, Walt Disney Co., 500 South Buena Vista St., Burbank, CA 91522; or fax a copy to (818) 846-7319.

"Dear Mr. Eisner"

I've recently learned about what you're doing in Haiti.
I'm writing you now to express my concern
About corporate actions you're taking.
But first let me thank you-you see I grew up
With Goofy and Mickey and the rest of the club.
I've always seen Disney as a positive force
That's why I was shocked and appalled all the more.
To find out that your workers in Haitian sweatshops
Are working for starvation wages.
Don't get me wrong-I mean they do need the jobs,
So don't take them to China or Malaysia.
But the 2 to 3 bucks that you pay them each day
Is not enough to keep food on their plates.
I hear 97 thousand dollars is your hourly wage;
Are you 346,000 times worth more than they?

And this song has a catchy refrain
That's the part you'll hear time after time.
If Disney won't pay a real living wage,
You won't get a dollar of mine.
I won't go to your theme parks, your movies or stores;
I'll tell folks that Mickey Mouse rips off the poor.
If Disney won't pay a real living wage,
You won't get a dollar of mine.

Dear Mr. Eisner, I do understand
The business of subcontract labor.
But you and I know, the power's in your hands
To change subcontractors' behavior.
I appeal to you now on the firm basis of
The biblical ethics of justice and love;
It's clear that your margins are healthy enough
To afford a wage increase that's modest but just.

Something More is available from Crosswind Music, P.O. Box 45236, Madison, WI 53744-5236; (608) 233-0628.