Following the Supreme Court’s decision to peel back portions of the 1965 Voting Rights Act last month, the NAACP and Congressional Black Caucus are turning to college sports to show public pressure against the restriction of Black voting rights.
According to The Hill, on Tuesday, the NAACP and the Congressional Black Caucus launched the “Out of Bounds” campaign, asking Black student-athletes at southern universities to boycott athletics competitions and Black fans to boycott events as well, withholding athletic and financial support from major southern institutions.
“Out of Bounds” specifically identifies Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas and South Carolina as states and universities to boycott, saying “the athletic programs of those states’ major universities are especially reliant on Black athletic talent and should protect Black political interests.”
If Black student-athletes follow the call, it could mean massively depleting the rosters at many Power Four football programs across the SEC and ACC.
“No one Black should be on a playing field of institutions that’s living off of our labor,” Derrick Johnson, CEO and president of the NAACP, said. “We will fight with all we have … to ensure that we have representation. If we don’t, we will withhold the talent that has played on the football field or on the basketball court.”
According to Politico, the campaign is an attempt to stop the wave of southern states' redistricting for upcoming elections by hitting the South where it will hurt: sports. The NAACP knows that teams like the LSU Tigers and Alabama Crimson Tide fill stadiums with tens of thousands of fans and generate more money than any other U.S. sports league outside the NFL. To limit that economic driver, would be felt.
Beyond boycotting athletics, “Out of Bounds” invites Black student-athletes to take their commitment to the cause one step further, by transferring schools altogether — or for prospective students — not committing to play in states that are redistricting, such as Tennessee, Alabama, Louisiana and Florida.
The NAACP also called for NIL funding to be pulled from these schools, instead redirecting financial interests to HBCUs.
“This is a Bill Russell moment, it’s a Muhammad Ali moment, and it’s a Jackie Robinson moment, and we’re going to stand together to make sure we bring about the type of country that the African American community deserves, and that everyone in the United States of America deserves,” said House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.
