Summary of the selective purchasing campaign brought to the East Lansing City Council says that raising the issue of the role of U.S. corporations in supporting apartheid in South Africa before City government was a tactic to better position activists to make their case for divestment with Michigan State University. The Mayor was sympathetic, and a public hearing was held that built on experience in Gary, Ind., and Washington, D.C. Considerable organizing went into getting many people to attend the public hearing in support of a resolution to initiate a boycott. Corporate representatives also were invited; only IBM responded, with a film and speaker. The white South African government sent a...
Summary of the selective purchasing campaign brought to the East Lansing City Council says that raising the issue of the role of U.S. corporations in supporting apartheid in South Africa before City government was a tactic to better position activists to make their case for divestment with Michigan State University. The Mayor was sympathetic, and a public hearing was held that built on experience in Gary, Ind., and Washington, D.C. Considerable organizing went into getting many people to attend the public hearing in support of a resolution to initiate a boycott. Corporate representatives also were invited; only IBM responded, with a film and speaker. The white South African government sent a Washington, D.C.-based lobbyist, Donald de Kieffer, who sat with Panax company members. Supportive speakers included Tim Smith of the Interfaith Council on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR), Warren Day representing American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), former Peace Corp workers in Africa, university faculty members who were speaking as taxpayers, and representatives of Amnesty International, African student groups, churches, and high school and community groups. Legal questions were raised, primarily by opponents, saying that prohibiting the City from purchasing from companies operating in South Africa would be against the practice of seeking the lowest responsible bid. The report says the City now includes in all its correspondence its condemnation of corporations in South Africa and that it rejects bids on the basis of South African involvement. The report includes a letter and copy of "A Resolution on South Africa by the City Council of East Lansing, Michigan, Passed 5-0 on August 3, 1977" sent to Senator Donald Riegle, Senator Robert Griffin, and Rep. Robert Carr (signed by Mayor George L, Griffith, Mayor Pro-Tem Larry Owen, and Councilmembers John Czarnecki, Alan Fax, and Carolyn Stell). The report discusses films, speakers, press releases, Southern African liberation, federal sanctions, Basic Facts on South Africa and the Policy of Apartheid, Julian R. Friedman, the United Nations Centre Against Apartheid, the Democratic Party Platform, the Peace Education Center, the UAW, the United Steel Workers of America, the anti-war movement, press coverage, City Council Krugerrand boycotts, Atlanta, and San Antonio.
