NAACP Encourages Boycott of College Sports in States Curbing Black Voting Rights
The NAACP has initiated a campaign urging Black athletes and supporters to boycott sports programs at public universities in several states. The civil rights organization claims these states are enacting measures that limit Black voting rights, as outlined in a report by the Associated Press (source).
On Tuesday, the NAACP launched the “Out of Bounds” initiative, which calls on prospective Black athletes, their families, alumni, and fans to withdraw both athletic and financial support from public universities in states the organization accuses of undermining Black voting representation.
The potential impact of this boycott on college athletics is significant, particularly for football and basketball teams that belong to the Southeastern Conference (SEC) and Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC).
This campaign is part of a broader response to gerrymandering moves following a Supreme Court decision that weakened a critical provision of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (source).
Civil rights groups have been organizing in the South to challenge redistricting plans by Republican-led state legislatures that eliminate majority-Black congressional districts. Strategies to oppose these redistricting efforts include proposals for mass protests and economic boycotts (source).
NAACP President Derrick Johnson stated, “Across the South, Black athletes have helped build some of the most profitable college athletic programs in America.” He emphasized that these programs generate substantial revenue and prestige, largely fueled by Black athletes in football and basketball.
The campaign focuses on Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas, and South Carolina. The NAACP argues that the universities in these states heavily rely on Black athletic talent and should defend Black political rights.
Johnson remarked, “Black athletes should not be asked to generate wealth, prestige, and power for state institutions while those same states strip political power from Black communities.”
In addition, Black lawmakers are pressing sports leagues to take a stand against states engaging in redistricting that affects long-standing Black Congressional representatives. The Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) has addressed a letter to the SEC and ACC commissioners, as well as to NCAA President Charlie Baker, indicating their opposition to the SCORE Act. This bill aims to standardize athletes’ contracting rights nationwide but is opposed by the CBC unless the conferences resist GOP-led redistricting plans.
The CBC stated, “The Congressional Black Caucus believes institutions that profit from Black talent and Black communities have a responsibility to stand with those communities when their fundamental rights are under attack.” They added, “Silence in the face of injustice is not neutrality — it is complicity.”
