Club Med

by Elrick Williams
Latest Update, November 30, 1995:

At the Third African-African American Summit last May over 5,000 delegates including African and African American leaders from across Africa, the United States and the Caribbean converged on the city of Dakar, Senegal, for one week to show their support of the unifying principles which the Summit convener, Reverend Leon Sullivan, represents. This conference, the largest of its kind ever held on African soil, was intended to bring about unity and solidarity from all people of African descent.

On the evening of May 4, however, Club Med, one of the hotels rented by Summit organizers for the week, hosted a reception for the Summit delegates and presented a comedic skit featuring blackface minstrels; this was met with vocal criticism and widespread shock by the thousands assembled. Reverend Sullivan, retired Philadelphia pastor and author of the Sullivan Principles governing U. S. corporate conduct in South Africa, was able to neutralize the angry crowd as he demanded and received an apology from the hotel manager.

Upon Dr. Sullivan's return to the United States, he attempted to negotiate a settlement with Club Med's U. S. office allowing them to make financial restitution for the insulting racist skit. Two months of discussion resulted in an agreement for Club Med to refund the money paid to it, an agreement on which Club Med's home office in France later reneged. Reverend Sullivan then decided to file suit against the hotel chain for the insult.

At the NAACP's 86th Annual Convention in August, Reverend Sullivan announced to a capacity audience the commencement of this lawsuit, to which the NAACP gave their unanimous and thunderous support. Said Sullivan, "Through these Summits we are coming together as Black people as never before. Our unity is our strength in the world. We are coming together and we will never be separated again....[The Club Med blackface skit] was a humiliation to our people and an insult to our Summit participants. Damages have been done to our people and to our Summit that was called to bring unity and to build self-pride among our people. For this insult Club Med is going to have to pay...." Further, Reverend Sullivan stated, "...if we get anything out of this, it will be used to support the work of the Summit and to help the children of Africa. And if we get nothing out of it, at least I will have the satisfaction of knowing that we spoke out against this kind of thing and that we are not going to take this in Africa or anywhere else in the world anymore."

Subsequent discussions have been held regarding a potential boycott of Club Med by African Americans and their supporters. On December 7, at a gathering in Phoenix to honor Reverend Martin Luther King, Reverend Sullivan plans to make a major statement regarding the unsatisfactory response of Club Med's management.


Latest Update, December 11, 1995:

Last week at the 10th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Prayer Breakfast held at the North Phoenix Baptist Church, Reverend Leon Sullivan again criticized Club Med in his remarks dealing more generally with affirmative action.

At the Third African-African American Summit last May over 5,000 delegates including African and African American leaders from across Africa, the United States and the Caribbean converged on the city of Dakar, Senegal, for one week to show their support of the unifying principles which the Summit convener, Reverend Sullivan, represents. This conference, the largest of its kind ever held on African soil, was intended to bring about unity and its kind ever held on African soil, was intended to bring about unity and solidarity from all people of African descent.

On the evening of May 4, however, Club Med, one of the hotels rented by Summit organizers for the week, hosted a reception for the Summit delegates, including 20 African heads of state, and presented a comedic skit featuring blackface minstrels; this was met with vocal criticism and widespread shock by the thousands assembled. Reverend Sullivan, retired Philadelphia pastor and author of the Sullivan Principles governing U.S. corporate conduct in South Africa, was able to neutralize the angry crowd as he demanded and received an apology from the hotel manager.

Upon Dr. Sullivan's return to the United States, he attempted to negotiate a settlement with Club Med's U.S. office allowing them to make financial restitution for the insulting racist skit. Two months of discussion resulted in an agreement for Club Med to refund the money paid to it by the Summit organizers, an agreement on which Club Med's home office in France later reneged. Reverend Sullivan then decided to file suit against the hotel chain for the insult.

At the NAACP's 86th Annual Convention in August, Reverend Sullivan announced to a capacity audience the commencement of this lawsuit, to which the NAACP gave their unanimous and thunderous support. Said Sullivan, "Through these Summits we are coming together as Black people as never before. Our unity is our strength in the world. We are coming together and we will never be separated again....[The Club Med blackface skit] was a humiliation to our people and an insult to our Summit participants. Damages have been done to our people and to our Summit that was called to bring unity and to build self-pride among our people. For this insult Club Med is going to have to pay...." Further, Reverend Sullivan stated, "...if we get anything out of this, it will be used to support the work of the Summit and to help the children of Africa. And if we get nothing out of it, at least I will have the satisfaction of knowing that we spoke out against this kind of thing and that we are not going to take this in Africa or anywhere else in the world anymore."

At the December 7 gathering in Phoenix to honor Reverend Martin Luther King Jr., Reverend Sullivan urged attendees to contact Club Med to insist that the hotel chain end its insulting treatment of people of African descent