NewsNational News

Actions

NAACP urges professional athletes to avoid signing with teams in Texas

Giants Cowboys Football
Posted at 6:23 PM, Oct 28, 2021
and last updated 2021-10-28 21:23:27-04

The NAACP is asking professional athletes to reconsider signing with teams in Texas, which recently passed laws restricting access to abortions and voting.

In a letter to every professional sports players' association, the organization asks athletes to join in the "fight for democracy."

"As we watch an incomprehensible assault on basic human rights unfold in Texas, we are simultaneously witnessing a threat to constitutional guarantees for women, children and marginalized communities," the NAACP said.

In addition to new voting and abortion laws, the NAACP takes issue with how the state is redrawing redistricting maps.

"The continued attacks on people of color in the state of Texas are reprehensible," said Gary Bledsoe, president of the Texas NAACP.

Texas is home to numerous high-profile sports teams including the NFL's Dallas Cowboys and the MLB's Houston Astros, which are playing the World Series.