(WBAP/KLIF) – In response to recently passed legislation, the NAACP is discouraging professional athletes from signing contracts in Texas.
The NAACP announced this week that it sent a letter to every professional sports players’ association in the country, urging its free agents to reconsider signing contracts in Texas.
In recent months, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed into law measures that the NAACP says restrict the right to vote, restrict women’s freedom to make choices about their bodies. The group also pointed to newly drawn district maps.
“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,” Derrick Johnson, President and CEO, NAACP. “Over the past few months, legislators in Texas have passed archaic policies, disguised as laws, that directly violate privacy rights and a woman’s freedom to choose, restrict access to free and fair elections for Black and brown voters, and increase the risk of contracting coronavirus. If you are a woman, avoid Texas. If you are Black, avoid Texas. If you want to lower your chances of dying from coronavirus, avoid Texas.”
Signed by Johnson and NAACP Texas President Gary Bledsoe, the letter was delivered to the National Football League Players Association, Women’s National Basketball Player’s Association, National Basketball Players Association, Major League Baseball Players Association, and National Hockey League Players’ Association. The letter calls on athletes to consider not only their platforms as professional athletes, but as parents and role models for our children.
Legislators behind the new laws say they are meant to protect all Texans.
Copyright 2021. WBAP/KLIF News. All Rights Reserved.
