NAACP calling on Black athletes to boycott Southern states over racial gerrymandering

The NAACP is taking aim at states that are trying to disenfranchise Black voters with a campaign calling on Black athletes to boycott flagship college athletics programs across Power 4.

Ahem, SEC, in particular, you’re on notice.

“What these states have done is not a policy disagreement. It is a sprint to erase Black political power,” said Derrick Johnson, president and CEO of the NAACP, which rolled out its Out of Bounds campaign on Tuesday, aimed at college programs in eight states – Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas.

The NAACP is targeting flagship athletics programs at public universities in those states that generate more than $100 million in annual revenues.

The affected schools:

• SEC: Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, LSU, Mississippi State, Ole Miss, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M.
• ACC: Clemson, Florida State, Georgia Tech.
• Big 12: Central Florida, Houston, Texas Tech.
• Big 10: nobody, yet – watching you, Indiana.

“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,” Johnson said. “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.”

The “fans and consumers” part is interesting here. “Out of Bounds” also calls on Black fans and alums to withhold athletic and financial support.

This, obviously, is a big ask, of everybody involved.

We’re talking 11 schools in the 16-member SEC here, two of the traditional big players in the ACC, and two big NIL spenders in the Big 12.

“The state that is working to erase your grandmother’s congressional district is the same state whose governor will stand on the field and celebrate your touchdown or game-winning shot,” said Tylik McMillan, national director of the Youth and College Division at the NAACP.

“We are asking young people – recruits, current athletes, fans – to see that connection clearly and to act on it. The Out of Bounds campaign is about redirecting what has always been ours, power and perseverance,” McMillan said.