BUZZ
Sports boycott in Florida previously failed
Black families, donors, and athletes should boycott college athletic events in states that refuse to illegally gerrymander districts in favor of black politicians, according to the NAACP.
The black advocacy group launched “Out of Bounds,” a new initiative that seeks to put economic and political pressure on Republican-led states to change their Congressional maps to uphold illegal districts. Following the Supreme Court’s Louisiana v. Callais ruling in late April, states can no longer draw maps for the explicit purpose of favoring one racial group over another.
“The NAACP identified eight priority states — Tennessee, Louisiana, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas, and Georgia ,” as part of its new initiative. The group announced plans to target “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 president and the CEO called out what he sees as political extremism.
“What these states have done is not a policy disagreement. It is a sprint to erase Black political power,” Derrick Johnson stated in a news release.
“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,” Johnson stated.
He continued:
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.
Supporters of illegally gerrymandered maps should vote with their wallets and feet, according to the NAACP.
The news release listed three action items:
- 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.
This is not the first time the group has demanded black athletes leave Republican-led states.
In 2024, the group called for a similar boycott of Florida for a variety of laws, including prohibitions on the teaching of DEI in taxpayer-funded schools as well as pro-life protections for preborn babies.
The initiative failed, according to a College Fix analysis. The Fix found that none of the top 35 black basketball and football athletes who were committed to Florida universities decided to leave the school.
