JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
Voting rights and college football - at first, the connection might not be obvious. But don't play, don't watch, don't support - that is the NAACP's message to fans and families of student athletes in Southern states attempting to redraw congressional maps to consolidate Republican power after a Supreme Court ruling weakened the Voting Rights Act. Athletic programs targeted in the boycott stand to lose millions if student athletes and their fans withhold their talent and turn off their screens. But the question is, will they? Derrick Johnson is president and CEO of the NAACP, and he joins me now. Welcome to the program.
DERRICK JOHNSON: Thank you for the opportunity.
SUMMERS: So, Derrick, in a nutshell, the Out of Bounds campaign is encouraging Black college football and basketball players to refuse to play for top schools in states where the NAACP feels redistricting efforts are disenfranchising Black voters, as well as for fans to boycott the games. Am I getting that correct?
JOHNSON: That is correct. And it's not what we feel; it's what we are witnessing. The Supreme Court handed down a decision which essentially opened the door for states to reverse progress made by African Americans and just their citizens in general. And within a day of the Supreme Court decision, the Tennessee state legislative body - they announced they were going to have a special session with the intent of abolishing the one district that's centered in Memphis, where African Americans could elect a candidate of their choice. And what's ironic about that district - African Americans for several years had selected an individual that was not from the African American community...
SUMMERS: Right.
JOHNSON: ...Because our voters understand their policy concern supersedes race. But unfortunately, for the states, a majority of which are former Confederate states, use race as the driving force behind policy consideration.
SUMMERS: Well, let me ask you this. I know how seriously young people who compete at a high level take their sports. How do you say to a high school kid who's excelled on the field and off and whose life, their family's life have been aimed at the sort of life-changing money that could come if you play for a school like Georgia, like Texas - how do you say to them that your principles should outweigh your aspirations, your lifelong aspirations?
JOHNSON: Well, that's a false choice that we would never set up for any student athlete. Many of these families have invested heavily. Nothing that we've said said, don't play sports. What we're saying is you have options, that if a major school, flagship school in the states that we have identified - be it Alabama or Texas or Georgia - if they're heavily recruiting you, we know you have options because these are big programs. And so, as opposed to going to Georgia, consider Michigan if they're recruiting you. As opposed to going to Texas, UCLA has a great program, and they have NIL money. These are athletes with actual options. And we're saying that all things being equal if there's 10 factors, make this the 11th factor because you should not be playing on a field where they don't want your voice in policymaking or selecting policymakers.
SUMMERS: What are you hearing from families of current and prospective students about the boycott so far?
JOHNSON: Thank you. Thank you for clarifying what's at stake. The concept of sharecropping is over, and we should not be benefiting state schools when the state refused to allow the players to really have a choice in who should represent them and the policies that follow as a result of that. We have an opportunity here as a society, and this is not only for Black athletes, it's for all athletes. And at some point, as a society, we have to move away from the othering and really focus on what's in the best interests of all citizens of this country.
SUMMERS: I do have to ask, though - critics of this boycott, they point to similar redistricting efforts in blue states, democratic states, and they ask, if you want truly to see fair voting maps, why not boycott them too? How do you respond to those sorts of allegations?
JOHNSON: Well, the - we are focusing on the racialized issue that's taking place. This is not about blue versus red states. This is about the African American vote, witnessing in real time a repeat of history. We are nonpartisan, but we are deeply concerned with the Southern states, where over 52% of all African Americans live, to mute the ability of African Americans to operate as communities of interest and elect candidates of their choice.
SUMMERS: How do you measure success?
JOHNSON: For us, success is being in the fight. You know, in this moment, we are witnessing the rollback of so many guardrails that protect our democracy. This is just one of many. We must, as a society, continue to fight for this concept of democracy. And so as long as we are in the midst of that fight, for all citizens, that is success. And unfortunately, we will have setbacks. But in the setbacks that we will have, as long as we continue to fight, we will continue to be - to succeed.
SUMMERS: Derrick Johnson is president and CEO of the NAACP. Thanks so much for joining us.
JOHNSON: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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