The NAACP has proposed a boycott calling on Black student-athletes, recruits, fans, and alumni to withdraw their support from major public universities in states currently moving to dismantle the Voting Rights Act.
Unveiled Tuesday, the campaign, “Out of Bounds,” urges Black athletes and their communities to “withhold athletic and financial support” from universities in states that have “moved to limit, weaken or erase Black voting representation.” The targeted states include Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas, home to some of the most powerful programs in the NCAA’s Southeastern Conference and Atlantic Coast Conference.
NAACP Leadership Speaks Out
“What these states have done is not a policy disagreement. It is a sprint to erase Black political power,” said NAACP President & CEO Derrick Johnson in a statement. “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.”
He continued: “‘Out of Bounds’ is our answer: we are naming the contradiction and 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.”
Supreme Court Ruling Sparks Action
The campaign comes in direct response to the Supreme Court’s 6-3 ruling in Louisiana v. Callais on April 29, which significantly weakened a core term of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. That term allowed advocacy groups to compel states to draw congressional districts where Black and minority voters had sufficient power to elect their preferred candidates.
By striking it down, the Court removed one of civil rights groups’ most effective legal protections, triggering a wave of redistricting across the South ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
Targeting NILs and the Economics of College Sports
The strategy behind “Out of Bounds” focuses on the financial power of collegiate athletics. Many of the targeted universities generate more than $100 million in annual revenue, much of it driven by Black student-athletes.
“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,” said Tylik McMillan, National Director of the Youth and College Division at the 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 said. “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.”
Calls to Action for Athletes and Supporters
According to the campaign announcement, the NAACP is primarily targeting top athletic recruits currently weighing college commitments, urging them to withhold those commitments until “fair congressional maps” are restored.
The organization is also calling on current student-athletes at the targeted schools to explore transfer portal options and use their NIL (Name, Image, and Likeness) platforms to raise awareness about voting rights issues.
Fans and alumni are being encouraged to redirect their financial support to HBCUs, and recruits are also urged to consider those institutions as alternatives.
“Out of Bounds” has already received swift political support. During a May 19 Congressional Black Caucus news conference, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries declared, “We will continue to stand with the NAACP in encouraging athletes in our community to look elsewhere until these racially gerrymandered maps in the South are reversed, buried in the ground, never to rise again.”
The Caucus reinforced its position by sending a letter to the commissioners of both the SEC and the ACC, as well as NCAA President Charlie Baker, warning that it would oppose the SCORE Act unless the conferences publicly challenged the redistricting efforts.
“The Congressional Black Caucus believes institutions that profit from Black talent and Black communities have a responsibility to stand with those communities when their fundamental rights are under attack,” the caucus stated. “Silence in the face of injustice is not neutrality — it is complicity.”
Criticism and Challenges
The campaign has also drawn criticism. South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster pushed back against the NAACP’s approach.
“Student athletes should not be used by the NAACP for political gain because they disagree with a Supreme Court ruling. That’s wrong, and South Carolina will not be bullied into ignoring the Constitution,” he said in a post on X.
Sports analysts have also raised questions about the campaign’s logistical feasibility, noting that transfer portal timelines could limit athletes’ options.
Ultimately, the “Out of Bounds” campaign highlights the intersection of economic influence and civil rights. By urging athletes and supporters to leverage their platforms and financial impact, the initiative seeks to pressure state legislatures and conference leaders, forcing decisions that could shape both political outcomes and the financial future of major athletic programs. Simply put — “No Representation. No recruitment. No Revenue.”
