The Congressional Black Caucus announced it is withholding its support from the bipartisan “Protect College Sports Act” over its concerns regarding Southern redistricting in the wake of the Supreme Court’s Louisiana v. Callais ruling.
The CBC, one of the most influential caucuses on Capitol Hill, has worked for weeks to lobby against Southern redistricting efforts that followed the Supreme Court’s ruling striking down race-based redistricting in the U.S. The lawmakers have argued that the ruling has allowed Republican-controlled states to diminish Black and minority voting power.
Now, the caucus is tying this issue to Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Maria Cantwell’s (D-WA) bill establishing a regulatory framework for college sports, which are wildly popular among residents of Southern states, where the Southeastern Conference dominates athletic culture. CBC chair Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-NY) wrote a letter to Cruz and Cantwell on Wednesday, urging them to pause the bill’s consideration, writing, “for generations, Black athletes have helped build college athletics into one of the most powerful and profitable industries in American life.”
“The success, visibility, and cultural influence of major athletic conferences and institutions are inseparable from the talent, labor, leadership, and cultural contributions of Black communities,” Clarke wrote. “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.”
She said the CBC would vie for the bill’s suspension as long as the leadership of college athletic institutions “remains silent in the face of ongoing attacks on Black political representation.”
“In the wake of the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Louisiana v. Callais, states across the South have moved rapidly to redraw congressional maps in ways designed to dilute Black voting strength, weaken Black representation, and undermine decades of hard-fought civil rights progress secured through the Voting Rights Act,” Clarke continued. “Through all of this, many of the nation’s most influential athletic institutions and conferences have remained largely silent.”
Several states, including Tennessee and Louisiana, have redistricted their congressional maps after the Callais decision to give the Republican side of the delegation more power, eliminating a majority-minority district within their borders in the process.
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The CBC is the latest group to take notable action in opposition to these redistricting moves. They also opposed the GOP-led SCORE Act, a separate college sports bill, last week. The NAACP similarly encourages Black athletes across eight Southern states to boycott college sports due to their states’ redistricting pushes.
The CBC’s stance against the bill is a significant step back for the “Protect College Sports Act,” which has been backed by leaders of both parties and leading voices in the NCAA, including former Alabama football coach Nick Saban, who testified in support of the bill before the Senate today.
The Washington Examiner has reached out to the offices of Cruz and Cantwell for comment.