Democrats remain angry that Republicans have been taking advantage of a recent Supreme Court decision to eliminate House districts that were drawn to benefit Democrats.
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is already calling on black athletes and fans to boycott the athletic programs of public universities in states that are redrawing congressional maps to favor Republicans and, at the same time, cancel Democratic lawmakers, many who are black.
Terris Todd, director of outreach and coalitions at the Project 21 Black Leadership Network, agrees with what sportswriter Tom Joyce and former Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill (R) have told AFN: young black athletes will not pass up a chance to play for a prestigious southern athletic powerhouse.
"If you want to tell black students or black families to boycott anything, it should be the public school system, because they've been failing students for years," Todd submits. "You don't wait until they get all the way up to college."
Most Division I football players receive NIL (Name, Image, Likeness) money ranging from a few thousand to hundreds of thousands of dollars per year, on top of a full athletic scholarship that typically covers about $25,000–$80,000 in total value depending on the school, including tuition, fees, room and board, books, meals, a cost-of-attendance stipend, and campus healthcare.
They also receive part of $15 million–$20 million per year from the schools through revenue sharing.
Todd says the NCAA essentially wants black athletes to turn down an opportunity to make "more money than they would ever make in their lifetime" so Democrats can stay in power.
Now the Congressional Black Caucus, which is officially non-partisan but only has Democratic members, has added to the campaign to punish Republican states by sending out a letter to more than 250 major corporations across the country demanding that they oppose the GOP redistricting effort.
The letter calls on the companies to publicly condemn the redistricting plans, to meet with Black Caucus members to discuss corporate America's role in voting rights, and to disclose their political donations to Republican politicians in states that are redistricting their congressional maps.
It is not, on its face, a boycott threat, but it is explicitly pressuring companies in a way that could escalate to boycotts or "economic pressure" depending on how it develops.
The Associated Press reached out for comment to dozens of companies that received the letter but says it is unclear how they will respond to its demands. One firm, the outdoor clothing company Patagonia, has endorsed the letter's message. Microsoft declined to comment, and most firms did not respond at all.
Todd thinks this entire effort will blow up in the caucus's face.
"I think that the black community, those who have a brainstem, are much wiser than that, to fall for that nonsense," Todd says.
