NAACP calls for boycott of Southern college sports programs over voting rights

WASHINGTON (AP) — The NAACP is calling on Black athletes and fans to boycott the athletic programs of public universities in states that are taking steps that the nation's oldest civil rights group says are restricting Black voting rights.

Launched on Tuesday, the “Out of Bounds” campaign urges prospective Black athletes, their families, alumni and fans to “withhold athletic and financial support” from major public universities in states that “have moved to limit, weaken or erase Black voting representation.”

If Black athletes participate in the boycott, it could deplete rosters for powerhouse football and basketball programs across the Southeastern Conference and Atlantic Coast Conference.

The NAACP is among groups responding to a wave of gerrymandering in the aftermath of a Supreme Court ruling that winnowed a key provision of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

The boycott comes as civil rights activists have mobilized across the South to protest redistricting plans by Republican state legislatures that eliminate majority-Black congressional districts after the high court's ruling. Activists have looked for pressure points to dissuade GOP-led states from redistricting maps, including calls for mass protests and economic boycotts.

“Across the South, Black athletes have helped build some of the most profitable college athletic programs in America,” said NAACP President Derrick Johnson. Johnson noted that the programs “generate hundreds of millions of dollars in annual revenue, national television value, alumni donations, merchandising sales, ticket sales, and brand equity — much of it powered by Black football and basketball talent.”

The NAACP’s campaign calls out Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas and South Carolina as states to boycott, arguing that the athletic programs of those states' flagship universities are especially reliant on Black athletic talent and should protect Black political interests.

“Black athletes should not be asked to generate wealth, prestige, and power for state institutions while those same states strip political power from Black communities,” said Johnson.

Black lawmakers themselves are also putting pressure on athletic leagues to take action against Republican-led states that may redistrict longtime Black members of Congress.

The Congressional Black Caucus on Monday sent a letter to the commissioners of the SEC and ACC athletic conferences, as well as NCAA President Charlie Baker, that its members will oppose the SCORE Act, a bill to standardize athletes’ contracting rights across the country, unless conference leaders oppose GOP-led redistricting efforts in states that include major conference members.

“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 CBC said in a Monday statement. “Silence in the face of injustice is not neutrality — it is complicity.”

A man sings a spirtual song during a voting rally, Saturday, May 16, 2026, in Montgomery, Ala. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

A vote pin is seen on the lapel of Sen. Raumesh Akbari, D-Memphis, during a rally after a special session of the state legislature to redraw U.S. Congressional voting maps Thursday, May 7, 2026, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

FILE - NAACP President Derrick Johnson arrives at the 57th NAACP Image Awards, Feb. 28, 2026, in Pasadena, Calif. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello, File)

MADRID (AP) — The son of Isak Andic, the billionaire founder of the Spanish fashion brand Mango, posted bail of 1 million euros ($1.15 million) on Tuesday following his arrest for alleged homicide in connection with a renewed investigation into the death of his father in 2024.

Andic, 71, was hiking with his son, Jonathan, in the mountains near Barcelona when he fell about 150 meters (about 500 feet) down a cliff and died in December 2024.

Jonathan Andic, 45, who is the vice chairman of Mango, one of Spain’s biggest retailers, was the only witness. Police opened an investigation but closed it a few weeks later. It was reopened in March 2025, and in October police confirmed the death was being investigated as a possible homicide.

Jonathan Andic was taken to a court in Martorell, a city in eastern Spain, where the case is being investigated. After answering questions from his lawyer, the judge set bail which was posted shortly afterward, court said.

Jonathan Andic is the eldest of Isak Andic's three children and one of his father's heirs. Isak Andic’s family moved from Turkey to Spain when he was young. He opened Mango’s first store in Barcelona in 1984 and over the following decades helped Mango grow into one of Europe’s leading fast fashion makers.

Mango has 2,900 stores in 120 markets around the world. The fashion group’s revenue hit a record high of nearly 3.8 billion euros (4.4 billion dollars) in 2025, an 11% increase from the previous year.

FILE - Isak Andic, the founder of Spanish fashion brand Mango, arrives at the Fall-Winter 2011 Mango's fashion show in Paris Tuesday, May 17, 2011. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus, File)