Reagan vs. Cities: The 20th century battle over South African apartheid and lessons for the Trump era

On June 27, Jobs to Move America released a report that pieces together the story of how cities and states joined the fight against apartheid in South Africa and how the Reagan administration sought to suppress those efforts.

Between December 2016 and June 2017, JMA researchers combed through thousands of pages of documents—legal memos, policy guides, court briefings, and correspondence between corporations and the Reagan administration. JMA also investigated parallels between the Reagan era battles and current tensions between the federal government and cities and states. Finally, JMA examined the long-term effects of the Reagan era apartheid policies.

The report details the four tactics used by the Reagan administration to stop anti-apartheid sanctions laws, including:

1. Adopting national policy to deter independent actions by Congress, cities and states.
2. Collaborating with the business lobby to oppose sanctions.
3. Interpreting federal law to justify withholding federal funding from cities and states adopting sanctions and divestment policies.
4. Actively organizing support for litigation to challenge city divestment and sanctions laws.