NAACP Urges Black Athletes to Boycott Southern US Universities Over Voting Rights

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) called on Black athletes and fans to boycott public universities across the U.S. South, opposing redistricting efforts that dilute Black voting power.

The “Out of Bounds” campaign, launched Tuesday, calls on Black athletes, their families, alumni and fans to “withhold athletic and financial support” from major public universities in states that “have moved to limit, weaken or erase Black voting representation,” the NAACP said.

Those states include Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas and South Carolina — all southern states that have redistricted or attempted to redistrict following an April U.S. Supreme Court ruling that gutted a key provision of the Voting Rights Act.

Voting rights advocates said the ruling makes it harder to challenge congressional district maps that appear designed to weaken the voting power of Black and minority groups.

Black voters have historically leaned heavily Democratic, and Republican-controlled legislatures in the South have led the redistricting push after the Supreme Court ruling.

A boycott by Black athletes would likely damage powerhouse football and basketball programs in the Southeastern Conference and Atlantic Coast Conference.

“Across the South, Black athletes have helped build some of the most profitable college athletic programs in America,” NAACP President Derrick Johnson said in a statement.

He added that “generate hundreds of millions of dollars in annual revenue, national television value, alumni donations, merchandising sales, ticket sales, and brand equity – much of it powered by Black football and basketball talent.”

“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,” Johnson said.

Several states have moved to redistrict after the Supreme Court ruling, with some even pausing their primary elections to redraw maps.

Other states are expected to redistrict after this year’s midterm elections in November, which will determine control of the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate.

The Voting Rights Act, first passed in 1965, aimed to prohibit racist practices used in southern and some northern states to disenfranchise Black voters.