‘Texas Isn’t Safe For Anyone’: NAACP Pens Letter Pleading With Pro Athletes Not To Sign With Teams In State Over Abortion And Voting Laws

On Thursday, NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson penned a letter to the Players Associations representing five major professional sports leagues, asking potential free agents to avoid signing with teams in Texas because of the state’s voting and abortion laws. 

The letter was sent to the Players Associations of the NBA, NFL, WNBA, NHL, and MLB, and urges professional athletes to “seek employment with sports teams located in states that will protect, honor and serve your families with integrity.” 

“From abortion to voting rights and mask mandates, Texas has become a blueprint by legislators to violate constitutional rights for all, especially for women, children, and marginalized communities,” writes Johnson.  

“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. Over the past few months, legislators in Texas have passed archaic policies, disguised as laws, that directly violate privacy rights and a women’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.” 

In recent months, Texas Governor Greg Abbott has signed into law an election integrity bill as well as the “Heartbeat Bill,” which prohibits most abortions after six weeks, when fetal cardiac activity can be detected.

According to the Texas Tribune, the election integrity bill “establishes new ID requirements for voting by mail, enhances protections for partisan poll watchers and sets new rules, and possible criminal penalties, for those who assist voters.”

“It also makes it a state jail felony for local election officials to proactively distribute applications for mail-in ballots, even if they are providing them to voters who automatically qualify to vote by mail or groups helping get out the vote.” 

Johnson’s letter calls the voting law “extreme” that “dilute[s] the voices of people of color.” 

“By limiting the ability to offer free and fair elections to all, Texas remains a state of hostility for many communities,” the letter states. “Recently released data from the 2020 census shows that people of color have driven 95% of the Texas population growth. Yet, new voting legislation and political maps put these communities at risk of not being able to participate in their democracy. These laws are intended to suppress our

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