In the wake of the Supreme Court’s 6-3 ruling in Louisiana v. Callais, the NAACP is taking a stand, calling for a boycott that would impact several SEC teams.
The ruling in Louisiana v. Callais severely restricted the scope of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, as it effectively ruled that complying with the Voting Rights Act’s mandate to prevent minority vote dilution can rarely or potentially never justify a state intentionally using race as a factor to draw legislative districts.
Following the ruling, civil rights groups like the NAACP have viewed the decision as a blow to the Voting Rights Act, arguing that it will make it significantly harder to challenge voting maps that dilute the political power of communities of color.
As a result, the NAACP is taking a stand.
NAACP Calls for Boycott
On Tuesday, the NAACP announced what it is calling the “Out of Bounds” campaign, which is a call for Black athletes, families, fans, alumni, and consumers to withhold athletic and financial support from public universities in states that is says have “moved to limit, weaken, or erase Black voting representation.”
The group identified eight “priority states” — Tennessee, Louisiana, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas, and Georgia — where it is targeting athletics programs that it is says are “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.”
“What these states have done is not a policy disagreement. It is a sprint to erase Black political power,” said Derrick Johnson, President & CEO, NAACP, in a statement. “These actions happened in days, in some cases in hours, of a Supreme Court ruling that gives extremist lawmakers a playbook to erode Black representation. 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. Out of Bounds is our answer: we are naming the contradiction, and we are calling on Black athletes, families, fans, and consumers to act on it. The same power that built these programs can be redirected. And it will be.”
SEC Teams Included
The NAACP campaign calls on top football and basketball recruits who are currently being actively recruited by programs at public universities in these states to withhold their commitments until the states in question “restore fair congressional maps and meaningful Black representation.”
As for the current athletes, the campaign urges them to “consider their options,” including using the transfer portal to potentially leave those programs and to use their platforms and NIL reach to elevate fair maps and voting rights.
There are hundreds of public universities across those eight states, including 11 SEC programs: Tennessee, LSU, Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, South Carolina, Texas A&M, Texas, and Georgia.
Other notable programs affected by this campaign include Florida State, UCF, South Florida, Texas Tech, and Georgia Tech.
About Dave Kelsey
Contributing author to The Comeback.