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Show 345 stopping apartheid in South Africa. Rick Herrick (2014) explains that in the 1970s, several African-American leaders purchased enough stock in Mobil Oil Corporation to give them rights to lobby for social change against apartheid in South Africa, and they soon after began speaking at general shareholder meetings to integrate a South African plant's dining facility and secure equal pay for all employees. They accomplished both objectives. Around the same time, an African American board member of General Motors, Reverend Leon Sullivan, petitioned to corporate divisions in South Africa to treat all employees with fairness and equality. Sullivan achieved some success. The most memorable, and effective, strategy for racial equality, though, was probably the divestment campaign led by students that motivated university trustee boards to sell off their equities from companies operated in South Africa (Herrick, 2014). There is no doubt, says Herrick, that "corporate actions played a leading role in producing the change" (para. 5) that ended apartheid. In today's context, there are unique opportunities for corporations to emerge as actors in the fight against global warming. Herrick notes that publics and governments should work to incentivize corporations to make products that may help decrease dependencies on fossil fuels. "In a crucial battle to safely manage global climate change, corporations will play the leading role" (Herrick, 2014, para. 6). Herrick shares this sentiment with 350.org, which has recently drawn from the apartheid divestment playbook in focusing on encouraging stockholders to divest from fossil fuel companies. This campaign was even recently advertised as a Global Divestment Day that would "make fossil fuels history." According to the social movement's website, it is estimated that $50 billion has been effectively divested so far (Fossil Free, 2015). |
