Hakeem Jeffries: We Are Calling for ‘Black Athletes to Abandon SEC Schools’

Thursday on MS NOW’s “All In,” House Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) reiterated the Congressional Black Caucus’ call for “black athletes to abandon SEC schools” over redistricting efforts.

Host Chris Hayes said, “You know, there’s been calls for, the CBC, Congressional Black Caucus has called for athletes, to boycott the SEC conference where, you know, schools like Ole Miss and Tennessee and the states that are that are contemplating this, Gamecocks in South Carolina, the SEC, in sort of opposition to this is a kind of interesting point of leverage. And you echoed that today. Tell me about why you think that makes sense.”

Jeffries said, “Well, we are proud to stand with the NAACP that has appropriately called for black athletes to abandon SEC schools when these schools are in states that are targeting in an unprecedented fashion, black political representation. And our view is that if there’s no representation, there should be no athletic or sports participation. And this comes from a long line of, you know, African-American athletes rising to the occasion. You know, this is a Muhammad Ali moment. This is a Bill Russell moment. It’s a Jackie Robinson moment. We understand that it’s going to require a level of courage and character and conviction and these are personal decisions that will have to be made. But it certainly is our view that there will be athletes who are going to make the decision based on this racially, you know, egregious gerrymandering that’s taking place, a return to Jim Crow like tactics in the South, that there will be black athletes who will make a decision to take their talents elsewhere.”

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