The NAACP is calling on student-athletes and prospective student-athletes to take up the mantle of fighting for the rights of black voters in the United States. The NAACP announced the “Out of Bounds Campaign” on Tuesday, which calls for “black athletes, families, fans, and alumni to withhold athletic and financial support” from public universities in states where racial gerrymandering is occurring.
As part of the initiative, the NAACP identified eight “priority states” it hopes will be hit by a potential boycott. They are Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas — all of whom represent some of the biggest power-players in college athletics, and states which earn over $100M in revenue from college athletics, according to the NAACP.
The unprecedented call for action comes in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision on Louisiana v. Callais, which functionally declared open season on minority voting rights. The court called a 2022 Louisiana congressional map “unconstitutional,” and mandated that voter maps could not be drawn based on race. The Louisiana map was drafted with the express purpose of giving black voters two seats (up from one), in order to have greater minority representation in office to better represent the 33% of the Louisiana population that is black.
As a result of the SCOTUS decision, the map is being redrawn to eliminate the second black district, giving a racial disparity of 5:1 in favor of majority-white districts. As part of their dissent, Justices Jackson, Kagan, and Sotomayor warned that the decision by the court would lead to the evisceration of the Voting Rights Act. That concern has so far borne out, with states rushing to redraw their congressional maps ahead of the 2026 midterms to eliminate minority districts. The Supreme Court decision functionally allowed racial gerrymandering, which could result in dozens fewer minority representatives in Congress.
The NAACP understands the profound power student athletes could have when it comes to putting pressure on state legislatures. College Football is arguably more influential than either political party in the targeted states, but it remains to be seen whether or not players will join this fight. In theory, it’s a wonderful idea, but unfortunately puts immense amounts of pressure on athletes who have worked to join Power Conference programs to realize their dreams, now essentially being asked to risk their futures in pursuit of voter rights. It’s unquestionably a worthwhile cause, though decidedly more difficult to swallow if you’re an 18-year-old five-star prospect with NFL dreams, who could see those evaporate if they choose to turn away from the exposure some of these schools offer.
In their call to action the NAACP says:
“The Out of Bounds campaign will remain in effect until targeted states adopt state-level voting rights protections, repeal maps that dilute Black voting power, restore congressional and judicial districts that reflect the Black population’s actual strength, and commit to transparent and community-centered redistricting processes. Our sentiment is clear: No Representation. No Recruitment. No Revenue.”
It remains to be seen how many athletes decide to heed this call. It’s an extremely difficult decision to make for athletes, but at this point marginalized minorities are running out of options to try fight for equal representation at the ballot box.
