Great American Boycott - Regional Demonstrations

Regional Demonstrations

Organization of events fell to local groups. In some cases, the split that occurred on the national level was evident on the local level as well in that separate events were planned by the various organizers. Major events were held in:

• Atlanta - An estimated 2,500 protesters turned out for the event, although Atlanta police had been prepared for as many as 100,000.

• Inland Empire Riverside police estimated that approximately 3000 people marched from UC Riverside to the steps of the county administrative building in downtown Riverside. 1500 people congregated outside San Bernardino City Hall and later marched throughout the city. Many area businesses closed for the day, schools across Orange, San Bernardino and Riverside counties saw extra absences and UC Riverside's cafeteria traffic dipped 20%.

• Las Vegas - On the Las Vegas Strip and in Downtown, a procession of more than 10,000 walked Las Vegas Boulevard from the downtown Fremont Experience to Tropicana Avenue, a distance of about 5 miles.

• Los Angeles - Between 1 and 2 million (Univision estimate) protesters marched in two separate marches, one beginning at 10:00 a.m. in Downtown Los Angeles and primarily organized by the Mexican American Political Association, and the second beginning at 3:00 p.m. from Downtown Los Angeles down Wilshire Boulevard and organized by the "We Are America" coalition of religious groups including the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles, ethnic interest groups, and labor organizations such as the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO. The impact of the boycott was felt throughout the Latino community, and Southern California generally. Businesses were closed, traffic piled up for miles around the march route, and over 90% of the daily traffic out of the Port of Los Angeles was shut down.

• Milwaukee - Nearly 70,000 people participated in a march through downtown Milwaukee, according to an organizer estimate. That number is more than double the estimated 30,000 who attended a similar event about five weeks before, on March 23. Though Police has estimated attendance there at 10,000-15,000 Participants marched along Wisconsin Ave. until reaching Veteran's Park, the site of a rally at noon on the lakefront. Mayor Tom Barrett addressed the ralliers, saying "Thank all of you for the fight you're fighting for peace and dignity. You're showing Milwaukee and Wisconsin and the U.S. that the fight for justice can be done peacefully." Wisconsin Restaurant Association president Ed Lump also spoke, emphasizing the importance of immigrants to the restaurant industry as workers, customers, managers, and entrepreneurs. The crowd was littered with American flags and red, white, & blue signs—people who brought Mexican flags or those of other nations were urged to put them away during the march. According to Christine Neumann-Ortiz, director of the event's main coordinator Voces de la Frontera, roughly 200 Milwaukee businesses remained closed for all or part of the day.

• New York City - A march of over 200,000 people began in Chinatown, rallied in Union Square Park, and continued down Broadway to Federal Plaza was led by a diverse coalition of workers' and immigrants' organizations. Jesse Jackson and Roger Toussaint were among the leaders of the march. In a poll, the majority of New Yorkers believed that the protest would result in a backlash. However, very few stores closed for the boycott. Organizers formed a human chain.

• Orange County, California - Of the 89,000 companies in the county, most remained open on the day of the boycott. Between 8,000 and 10,000 people marched in Santa Ana. Two protesters were arrested after rocks and bottles were thrown at the police. Turnout in other parts of the county were negligible. Some Orange County public schools reported no change in the number of absent students, while others were slightly higher.

• San Francisco - Over 200,000 people marched from Justin Herman Plaza to Civic Center in front of San Francisco City Hall. The march and rally were organized and mobilized by a wide range of churches, faith-based groups, labor organizations, anti-war groups, community-based organizations and other progressive forces advocating for immigrant rights.

• Santa Fe/Albuquerque - Rallies were organized by Somos un Pueblo Unido, an immigrant-advocacy group. 74 businesses closed in Albuquerque, as did another 50 in Santa Fe.

• San Rafael, California - Canal Alliance, an immigrant advocacy group, scheduled two events, one at 10:00 a.m. and the other at 5:00 p.m. for those unable to abstain from work. An estimated 3,000 people assembled near San Rafael Transit Center in the downtown area.

• Santa Barbara, California - Numerous businesses, particularly in heavily Latino areas, closed for the day. As many as one third of Santa Barbara School District students did not attend classes. Many of them marched from their schools to City Hall before meeting up with other protesters for the main rally and march, which attracted some 15,000 supporters.

• Seattle - Around 20,000 to 30,000 demonstrators marched from the central district to the Federal Building downtown.

• Tampa/St. Petersburg - The largest rallies in Florida were held in Hillsborough County, whose seat is Tampa. Across the county, approximately 12% of middle and high school students were absent (five percentage points higher than the average). Several tomato farms closed for the day when agricultural workers did not arrive.

• Washington, D.C. - Business closures and higher-than-normal absentee rates were reported. Little impact to area business resulted.