We’ll see if anything comes of this.
The NAACP, the nation’s oldest civil rights organization, called on athletes and fans to boycott schools in eight Southern states that have “moved to limit, weaken or erase Black voting representation” since the U.S. Supreme Court recently voted to narrow the Voting Rights Act.
“The NAACP will not watch the same institutions that depend on Black athletic prowess to fill their stadiums and their bank accounts remain silent while their states strip Black communities of their voice,” NAACP executive director Derrick Johnson said in a statement.
By a 6-3 vote two weeks ago, in the case of Louisiana v. Callais, the Supreme Court struck down a majority Black congressional district in Louisiana, which has led to increased redistricting efforts across Southern states.
The NAACP urged Black athletes, families, fans, alumni and consumers to withhold athletic and financial support from public universities in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas, targeting flagship public athletic programs.
Those are eight of the 12 states in the SEC footprint, comprising 12 of the conference’s 16 schools. There was no immediate response from the SEC.
The ACC has five schools among those eight states, and the Big 12 has four.
The full NAACP statement is here, and it’s worth reading in full about this campaign, which they’re calling Out of Bounds. I had some questions about what specifically they were demanding, which were answered in the document:
The NAACP identified eight priority states — Tennessee, Louisiana, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas, and Georgia — and targeted flagship public athletic programs generating more than $100 million in annual revenue that continue to recruit Black athletes while their state governments dismantle the political power of Black communities.
[…]
The “Out of Bounds” campaign focuses on one primary ask, calling on top football and basketball recruits currently being actively recruited by targeted programs to withhold their commitments until the states in question restore fair congressional maps and meaningful Black representation. The campaign also calls on current college athletes — including those who may already be enrolled at targeted programs — to consider their options, including the transfer portal, and to use their platforms and NIL reach to elevate fair maps and voting rights.
[…]
The campaign issues calls to action across three audiences.
- Black athletes and recruits are asked to withhold commitments from targeted programs, to ask coaches and athletic directors where their universities stand on voting rights, and to visit and seriously consider HBCUs.
- Current college athletes are asked to use their platforms to elevate the issue, to ask institutional leadership for public statements opposing racial vote dilution, and to consider all available options under the transfer portal.
- Fans, alumni, donors, and consumers are asked to stop purchasing tickets, merchandise, and licensed apparel from targeted programs and to redirect that spending to HBCUs — their athletics programs, scholarship funds, NIL collectives, bands, and alumni foundations.
The Out of Bounds campaign will remain in effect until targeted states adopt state-level voting rights protections, repeal maps that dilute Black voting power, restore congressional and judicial districts that reflect the Black population’s actual strength, and commit to transparent and community-centered redistricting processes. Our sentiment is clear: No Representation. No Recruitment. No Revenue.
That is indeed clear, and I hope the message gets out. But before we go any further, here’s a reaction from columnist Candace Buckner:
It is admirable. And to be sure, it’s impossible. But mostly, it’s unfair.
The oldest civil rights organization in America wants to sign up athletes in their teens and 20s and showcase them as virtuous leaders. These athletes, many of whom may have the body of Adonis and still the mind of a child, do possess a semblance of power. They can withhold their services and forgo millions from rich boosters if they want to send a message to Southern lawmakers. But it’s unreasonable to expect someone whose frontal lobe hasn’t fully developed to move to the front lines of a civil rights fight.
Kids, and that’s exactly what they are, should never be looked upon as perfectly formed moral beings. Not even adults can achieve such a standard, including the adults these kids most desire to become — professional athletes.
This idea of a community of athletes rising and coming together to fight alongside their fellow man does not match our current times. In fact, this romantic past doesn’t even match reality. The Cleveland Summit in 1967, when influential Black athletes gathered and spoke, resulted in a news conference in which they voiced support for one man, their brother Muhammad Ali, and his right to refuse to be drafted into the U.S. military. It was a day. Yet it feels more weighty when viewed through the rose-colored glasses of nostalgia. Also, those pregame demonstrations when NBA players wore “I Can’t Breathe” T-shirts and NFL players dropped to one knee made headlines, but eventually the attire went away, and the protests stopped. These acts represented moments in time, not a new and sustained standard.
When the peak of activism dies down, business returns to normal and the resistance retreats. It’s seen in the ambivalence of the most influential basketball player in the state of Minnesota, when Anthony Edwards can only muster flaccid support (“I’m behind whatever they with …”) after thousands of residents protested the occupation of immigration enforcement agents in his NBA city. It’s evident when tuning into one of Jaylen Brown’s long-winded Twitch streams. Although he once drove 15 hours to participate in a Black Lives Matter protest, he now keeps busy in his offseason by beefing with Stephen A. Smith.
These pros aren’t feeling the pressure to stand up for voting rights. The NAACP’s appeal isn’t for NBA and NFL free agents to avoid signing multimillion-dollar contracts in Georgia, Texas or Florida. Maybe because this would be a ridiculous request, laughed down or outright ignored.
Instead, this is an ask of Black kids, to place on their shoulders the burdens of society. It’s a fantasy.
It’s very hard to argue with that. I’ve heard of this kind of idea before, a few years ago, but I forget what the trigger was for it and I don’t remember if it was an actual NAACP position or just some messaging by folks online. What I do remember is that it was then more about urging Black athletes and recruits to more strongly consider HBCUs as a real alternative to the traditional powers. Nothing happened then, again most likely because there wasn’t an actual organized campaign but just some Internet noise. That’s likely what this will be too. I wish I knew a better idea.
I’ve got a problem with this statement:
“The oldest civil rights organization in America wants to sign up athletes in their teens and 20s and showcase them as virtuous leaders. These athletes, many of whom may have the body of Adonis and still the mind of a child……… But it’s unreasonable to expect someone whose frontal lobe hasn’t fully developed to move to the front lines of a civil rights fight.”
Go look at the history of the Freedom Riders. Most of them were under 30. John Lewis was 21 (in the age range of a college athlete) when he joined up. While there’s evidence that the brain isn’t fully mature until around age 25, I don’t think it’s fair or accurate to say college students have “the mind of a child”. They absolutely can decide if a particular cause is worth their time and energy.
I will agree that much is being asked of these young people here. But it’s also undeniable that young people are getting screwed over the most by GOP policies, and minority youth have it even worse. They have major skin in this game.