NAACP calls for black athletes to withhold support for college sports in southern states over voting rights

Sep 13, 2025; Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide linebacker Yhonzae Pierre (42) celebrate a turnover with teammates Alabama Crimson Tide linebacker Deontae Lawson (0) and linebacker Justin Jefferson (10) during the second half against the Wisconsin Badgers at Saban Field at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Mandatory Credit: David Leong-Imagn Images

The NAACP launched an initiative entitled the “Out of Bounds” campaign this week. 

The campaign has been defined as “a national call for black athletes, families, fans, alumni, and consumers to withhold athletic and financial support from public universities in states that have moved to limit, weaken, or erase Black voting representation in the wake of the Supreme Court’s 6-3 ruling in Louisiana v. Callais, which gutted what was left of the Voting Rights Act.”

Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas were states listed in a press release by the NAACP.

“What these states have done is not a policy disagreement. It is a sprint to erase Black political power,” The President and CEO of the NAACP Derrick Johnson said. “These actions happened in days, in some cases in hours, of a Supreme Court ruling that gives extremist lawmakers a playbook to erode Black representation. 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. Out of Bounds is our answer: we are naming the contradiction, and we are calling on Black athletes, families, fans, and consumers to act on it. The same power that built these programs can be redirected. And it will be.”

The campaign is calling upon black recruits considering public colleges to withhold commitments, and is calling upon current black college athletes to ‘elevate the issue.’ It is also asking for fans and alumni of those schools to stop purchasing tickets and merchandise.