The Cultural Boycott of South Africa

Abstract

Millie Jackson and Frank Sinatra probably did more to resurrect the international cultural boycott of South Africa than any of its advocates. Their widely publicized visits to South Africa helped revitalize the international movement to enforce the cultural boycott and prompted the decision by the United Nations Special Committee Against Apartheid to compile a list of all performers who travel to South Africa. During a 1980 visit to South Africa, Millie Jackson met with representatives of MDALI, a cultural organization dedicated to improvement in the status of Black South African artists. When MDALI representatives asked her to cancel her performances in support of the United Nations sanctioned cultural boycott, Jackson is reported to have told them, am not a politician and I am not going to mix my career with politics. All I want is the money.' Jackson has subsequently argued that her statements were intentionally distorted. Nevertheless, Millie Jackson's alleged insensitivity angered both MDALI and the Azanian People's Organization (AZAPO), a black South African political group. They issued a joint call for a domestic boycott of all foreign artists and the compilation of a boycott list for international circulation of all entertainers who visit South Africa. Thus, the growth of a boycott movement within South Africa and the cooperative effort between AZAPO and the United Nations Special Committee Against Apartheid can both be described as Millie's contributions. Frank Sinatra's 1981 summer engagement at the Sun City Hotel Casino and Country Club in Bophuthatswana was Pretoria's most ambitious effort to undermine the cultural boycott. Sinatra was reported to have received $1.79 million for a series of nine concerts. Such lucrative contracts have started a stampede of American artists eager to perform at this Las Vegastype resort. The most significant aspect of Pretoria's victory, however, was how Sinatra's performances were used to bestow legitimacy upon South Africa's