NAACP calls for Black student-athletes to boycott Southern schools amid redistricting backlash

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: NBC News

May 19, 2026, 12:59 PM EDT / Updated May 19, 2026, 1:01 PM EDT


The NAACP launched a campaign Tuesday calling on Black student-athletes to boycott Southern colleges in the wake of a Supreme Court decision last month that weakened the Voting Rights Act, leading to the dismantling of one majority-Black congressional district and a push to scrap others.

“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,” NAACP National President and CEO Derrick Johnson said in a statement.

The group is urging Black recruits to withhold their commitments from a list of universities primarily within the NCAA’s Southeastern Conference. The schools are in the following states: Tennessee, Louisiana, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas and Georgia. Several of the schools have nationally ranked football programs, including the University of Alabama, the University of Texas at Austin, the University of Georgia and the University of Mississippi.

The “Out of Bounds” campaign comes as voting rights advocates, across generations, are grappling with what they see as the latest blow to one of the most seminal victories of the nation’s Civil Rights Movement. The Voting Rights Act was enacted in 1965 to protect minority voters who long faced discrimination in elections. Last month, in a 6-3 ruling the Supreme Court held that the use of race to draw two majority-Black districts in Louisiana was an “unconstitutional racial gerrymander.”

Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/naacp-black-athletes-boycott-southern-universities-redistricting-rcna345884

[mjvpi]

1. Why would any black athletes ever play for a Florida state school? They can't even teach slavery as history.

[Jose Garcia]

3. Money

[Stuckinthebush]

20. Ding Ding!

That NIL money is very very tempting. Florida, Alabama, Georgia, and Louisiana have gobs of it. Tennessee too.

Where football is concerned, most of those big schools with deep NIL pockets are in red states. Ohio, Oklahoma now.

[J_William_Ryan]

2. In essence, a boycott of the SEC.

Might be difficult for some black football players, and understandably so.

[Jose Garcia]

5. There are a bunch of HBCU schools in there states also

[ForgoTheConsequence]

11. If you're good enough to play in the SEC, you aren't turning down that money to go to a MEAC team.

[LakeVermilion]

4. I would suspect that coaches are...

way ahead of the NAACP. I can imagine that coaches from southern schools are really concerned about losing talent over this issue.

Republicans always fail to discover the unintended consequences.

[dalton99a]

6. Kick

[Scrivener7]

7. Good for them! Well done!

[msongs]

8. one suspects money will rule here

[TomSlick]

12. Of course it will.

The Golden Rule applies. Those who have the gold make the rules.

"Student athletes" are interested in money and coming to the attention of professional scouts. They will not sacrifice themselves to protest against the return of Jim Crow. It's probably asking to much for a bunch of teen aged athletes to think about the long term public good.

[otchmoson]

9. Finally!

My hubby has been telling me for months that this should happen. Sadly, we do understand that these young men are facing a dilemma--a career, big bucks, possibly professional paychecks and perks--vs. standing up for what's right. Many of them are under 20--it's hard to make a life-altering decision like that when you have a lack of experience to guide.

[Miguelito Loveless]

10. NBA players should boycott Jim Crow states.

[efhmc]

13. Easy for this little old white lady to advocate but many young athletes depend on these skills to help them get a

college education.

[Hassler]

14. Why is it only black students they call on

To boycott? Why not white students as well? And Hispanic students, etc...

[BumRushDaShow]

15. Probably because they are the biggest group

and biggest financial juggernauts for certain college ball sports (notably basketball).

[Hassler]

18. So white people get a pass, and the burden falls on the usual target.

[BumRushDaShow]

19. The majority population rarely makes that type of sacrifice

until something impacts them directly. So it becomes a wasted effort to keep begging over and over when shit like the 2024 election keeps happening.

[Callie1979]

16. Hardly likely to happen at all. Too much money for playing now

Plus the chance to go pro

[xuplate]

17. Brilliant idea.