NAACP asks Black university athletes in 7 states to boycott

By Alan Wooten
The Center Square

Black athletes in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas and South Carolina at public universities are being encouraged to join the NAACP’s Out of Bounds campaign and boycott athletic programs.

Power 4 conference schools in the Southeastern Conference, Atlantic Coast Conference and Big 12 could be impacted. The request is in response to the Supreme Court ruling announced April 29, striking down a congressional map in Louisiana it says relied too heavily on race.

“Black athletes should not be asked to generate wealth, prestige and power for state institutions while those same states strip political power from Black communities,” said Derrick Johnson, president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

A day earlier, the Congressional Black Caucus wrote to NCAA President Charlie Baker and leaders of the SEC and ACC advising its members would be in opposition to the SCORE Act. The legislation unifies athletes’ contracting rights nationwide.

In Louisiana v. Callais, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled authority to alter districts that would guarantee the race – any race – of an elected representative is not given through the Constitution or Section 2 of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. It was in keeping with several other opinions, including a 2007 Seattle voluntary school integration case for which Chief Justice John Roberts wrote, “The way to stop discriminating on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race.”

New maps are in play for the 2026 elections in California, Florida, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee and Texas. Litigation has also led to changes in Alabama and Utah.

Georgia and Louisiana are in ongoing litigation.

South Carolina’s Legislature this week is considering changing its map.