College teams like the Texas Longhorns could feel the impact of the NAACP’s boycott of southern colleges in response to the elimination of predominantly Black congressional districts (Photo Credit: Regal Media Group).
“Across the South, Black athletes have helped build some of the most profitable college athletic programs in America. (The programs) generate hundreds of millions of dollars in annual revenue, national television value, alumni donations, merchandising sales, ticket sales, and brand equity—much of it powered by Black football and basketball talent,” said NAACP President Derrick Johnson.
Therefore, the country’s oldest civil rights organization is encouraging Black athletes to boycott major universities in states that have eliminated predominantly Black congressional districts after the Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Matt Brown of the Associated Press reported, “The NAACP is calling on Black athletes and fans to boycott the athletic programs of public universities in states that are taking steps that the nation’s oldest civil rights group says are restricting Black voting rights.
“Launched on Tuesday, the ‘Out of Bounds’ campaign urges prospective Black athletes, their families, alumni and fans to ‘withhold athletic and financial support’ from major public universities, in states that ‘have moved to limit, weaken or erase Black voting representation.’
“If Black athletes participate in the boycott, it could deplete rosters for powerhouse football and basketball programs across the Southeastern Conference and Atlantic Coast Conference.”
While the planned boycott has received mixed responses, boycotts have worked effectively for Black Americans seeking equal rights in the past.
During the Civil Rights Movement, boycotts led to the end of segregation on city buses because of the financial impact it had on the bus companies.
In Montgomery, Ala., the city buses did not integrate because of the goodness of people’s hearts.
The Montgomery buses were integrated because the Montgomery Bus Boycott almost bankrupted the company.
Many White-owned companies did not integrate their workforce because they had a moment of moral clarity.
Those companies agreed to hire Black employees when they lost many of their Black consumers.
In her biography about the late Jesse Jackson, entitled A Dream Deferred, CNNanchor Abby Phillip wrote about the covenants that major corporations agreed to when Jackson’s PUSH social group put pressure on them for not hiring Black Americans or collaborating with Black-owned companies.
Phillip wrote, “The General Food covenant illustrates the wealth of changes to which these companies and others agreed. Under it, the company would:
- Provide 360 jobs for Blacks and other minorities across the board:
- Authorize an additional $20 million of its insurance volume to Black insurance companies;
- Retain Black law firms, retain at least five Black physicians and their paramedical personnel, and use Black-owned medical supply firms;
- Exert every effort to use Black-authorized automobile dealers;
- Increase its deposits in Black-owned banks by five hundred thousand dollars;
- Creatively use Black contractors for the expansion, demolition, refurbishing, or remodeling of plant facilities; and
- Increase its advertisements in Black print media and strengthen its relationship with Black-owned advertising agencies.
“All told, this General Foods covenant added approximately $65 million to Black communities.
“When Coca-Cola resisted such an agreement, Jackson pointed out that its spokesman (and famous comedian) Bill Cosby was a friend and PUSH supporter. Coca-Cola quickly gave in. Quaker Oats, 7UP, and Avon Products also agreed to similar covenants.”
That said, many in the Black community believe highly sought-after Black athletes could make systemic change in exchange for their talents.
In the middle of the Black Lives Matter movement in 2020, former Mississippi State running back Kylin Hill refused to play for the Bulldogs unless the state of Mississippi changed its flag by removing the Confederate emblem.
Six days later, on June 28, 2020, Mississippi agreed to change the state flag.
If the NAACP boycott is successful, it could lead to systemic change in all avenues of American life, not just with congressional districts.
Johnson added, “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.”
Some have said that it is asking too much of young teens, when many would not be able to afford college without athletic scholarships.
However, during the Montgomery Bus Boycott, people made sacrifices for more than a year to achieve their goals.
Some walked to work every day.
Some lost their jobs for not taking the bus to work.
Some lent their automobiles.
And some were up an age, and maybe too old to walk long distances.
But many participated anyway because the ultimate goal was more important to many of the boycotters.
Therefore, many believe young people can make sacrifices if their elderly ancestors made bigger sacrifices for future generations.
Many have said that Black athletes could take their talents to Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and accept athletic scholarships there.
However, many HBCU athletic groups do not offer the same lucrative name, image and likeness (NIL) deals offered at Power Four schools, which are SEC, Big 12, Big 10 and ACC schools.
Others have questioned what will happen to the athletic scholarships of current HBCU student-athletes if bigger recruits and transfers take their talents to those schools.
Regardless of what happens, Black activists, media personalities and community leaders are actively looking for ways to combat congressional redistricting.
Sunny Hostin of “The View” said, “I think there has to be strategy. I mean, athletes have been involved in protests and politics for a long time.
“Remember the Olympics, and you had John Carlos, and you had Muhammad Ali, but these were athletes that were established already. These college athletes stand to get a free education. They stand to make money because of NIL now, so I think it is asking a lot. But I think it’s economic damage and economic harm has longtime been a very effective tool in the civil rights movement.”
