In response to the Supreme Court striking down the Voting Rights Act and Republican legislators seeking to redraw the maps of Black districts, the NAACP has officially launched its “Out of Bounds” campaign. The new initiative’s unprecedented directive is calling on Black athletes, recruits, families, and fans to completely boycott public university athletic programs in states moving to restrict or erase Black voting representation. Blood programs at schools across the SEC and ACC, including Alabama, Texas, Georgia, and Florida, are being targeted by the nation’s oldest civil rights organization. The goal is to leverage the massive economic and cultural power of Black athletic talent to fight back against state-level gerrymandering.
In a statement, NAACP President & CEO Derrick Johnson claimed that states are attempting to deny Black contributions their political equity while recruiting Black athletes for their athletic programs.
“What these states have done is not a policy disagreement. It is a sprint to erase Black political power,” said Johnson. “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,” Johnson continued.
“This generation of Black athletes understands something that those who came before them were never afforded the chance to say so plainly: your talent is yours, and so is your community’s political power,” added Tylik McMillan, National Director, Youth and College Division, NAACP.
“These are not separate issues. The state that is working to erase your grandmother’s congressional district is the same state whose governor will stand on the field and celebrate your touchdown or game-winning shot,” McMillian. “We are asking young people — recruits, current athletes, fans — to see that connection clearly and to act on it. The Out of Bounds campaign is about redirecting what has always been ours, power and perseverance.”
The campaign is calling on current college athletes to leverage their platforms and Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) reach to champion voting rights. Also, “Out of Bounds” urges athletes to use their influence to press university leadership to make public statements against racial voter suppression, while also encouraging them to consider using the transfer portal to align their talents with institutions that respect Black political representation.
Along with students, athletes, the campaign is also urging fans, alumni, donors, and consumers to boycott targeted athletic programs by halting purchases of tickets, merchandise, and licensed apparel. Instead, the campaign asks them to redirect their financial support to HBCUs by contributing to their athletic programs, scholarship funds, NIL collectives, bands, and alumni foundations.
Ultimately, the NAACP’s “Out of Bounds” campaign puts a spotlight on the undeniable intersection of sports, economics, and civil rights. With Black people losing their voting rights that the ancestors gave their lives for, the NAACP is fighting for political representation by forcing a choice between celebrating Black talent on the field and protecting the rights of Black voters at the ballot box.