Listening to the news and hearing how the NAACP is urging black high school student athletes to not go to universities in eight states in support of Gerrymandering. Yes, the issue is being presented as standing up for voting rights. The reality is the supreme court recently ruled, really just reaffirmed, that you can not use race to draw congressional districts. But, the NAACP would have these students believe that using race to draw the lines is some kind of right, a privilege they should enjoy. They are asking those students to refuse to play for those universities because it will deny those universities of revenue! Only the black students can sell tickets, get the support those colleges need. Entertainment is more important than education.

For many of those black athletes they see going to college as a stepping stone to the professional level. That’s the dream, the promise, that they will become wealthy, successful in their football careers. The reality is only 1.6% of all college athletes, of any race, will be drafted into the professional ranks. The reality is for high school athletes less than .05% will make it to the professional level. It’s true that 70% of all professional football players are black. No one is calling that discriminatory though, I suspect if it were 70% white that wouldn’t be the case.

So, if those kids were to follow that request, not go to the schools being banned by the NAACP, how will that effect their future? I’m thinking it would certainly have quite the negative effect. Is the NAACP really thinking about the “advancement of colored people” in this situation? Sure doesn’t sound like that to me, sounds more like a political play. This what AI has to say about the NAACP, “Leadership challenges within the NAACP frequently stem from internal financial mismanagement, ideological disconnects with working-class Black communities, and controversies surrounding local representation. These issues range from specific local scandals to broader critiques regarding the organization’s overarching political focus.” What is the NAACP doing in this case? In brief, using those kids as pawns!

In the bigger picture did any of those universities/colleges have anything to do with the redistricting? I doubt that, that is the job of state legislatures. Are any of those legislators associated with those schools? Well, they may have attended some of them, that much can be assumed. Would they draw district lines to exclude the best athletes from attending those schools? Doesn’t seem likely, and besides, district lines have nothing to do with what school you may or may not attend. So just who is being punished ? The kids, that’s who. Used for what, a political position, used for the color of their skin! They are only asking for black athletes to not attend those schools, not all athletes. A race based boycott! Yeah, that should advance your cause.

This is the mission statement of the NAACP: The mission of the NAACP is to ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights for all persons and to eliminate racial hatred and racial discrimination. Is this demand going to do anything to further that goal? Are we going to say, for the NAACP, equality means black people get preferential treatment? That’s it’s only fair that district lines should be drawn upon the color of your skin? Are we going to say, if we don’t get things our way, we will just take our ball and go home?