The NAACP launched a campaign Tuesday urging Black athletes and fans to withhold financial support from public universities in states that are working to “limit, weaken, or erase Black voting representation” in the wake of last month’s Supreme Court ruling that narrowed the Voting Rights Act.
In announcing its Out of Bounds campaign, the NAACP named eight states: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas. Since the Supreme Court decision last month, many of those states have launched efforts to redraw congressional maps or made other moves critics say will dilute Black voting power. (Texas passed a redistricting effort before the Supreme Court’s ruling.)
The campaign calls on Black athletes and recruits to withhold commitments from programs in targeted states, to ask athletic personnel about university stances on voting rights and to consider signing with historically Black colleges and universities. It also calls on current college athletes to use their platform to raise concerns and press leaders to speak up on voting issues. The campaign asks fans, alumni and others to stop buying tickets and merchandise and to redirect their support to HBCUs, including donations to athletics, scholarship funds and bands.
