‘A Jackie Robinson moment’: Jeffries echoes NAACP calls for college sports boycott over voting rights

Hakeem Jeffries, the top US House Democrat, has amplified calls for Black athletes to boycott public universities in states that have moved to limit voting rights, saying an “unprecedented moment, featuring an unprecedented attack on Black political representation” requires an “unprecedented response”. Jeffries’s comments came Tuesday as the NAACP launched its “Out of Bounds” campaign . The campaign targets universities in eight states – Tennessee, Louisiana, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas and Georgia – whose athletic programs generate more than $100m in revenue. Those eight states have moved to draw new voter maps after the supreme court’s Louisiana v Callais decision severely weakened the Voting Rights Act. The minority leader specifically called out the powerhouse Southeastern Conference. Twelve of the SEC’s 16 member schools are in the eight targeted states. “We are here standing in solidarity with the NAACP and its call for athletes to boycott institutions within the SEC that belong to states that have unleashed these Jim Crow-like, racially oppressive tactics, which is unacceptable, unconscionable and un-American,” Jeffries said during a press briefing on Tuesday in Washington. …