Hit Them Where It Hurts: It is Time to Boycott the Confederacy

The Supreme Court just brought back Jim Crow. Not as a metaphor. Not as hyperbole. As policy.

On April 29, 2026, the Court's 6-3 Republican supermajority gutted Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act in Louisiana v. Callais, effectively legalizing the dilution of Black voting power as long as it's dressed up in partisan language. Within days — in some cases within hours — states sprinted to take advantage. Tennessee gerrymandered Memphis's only majority-Black district into three separate rural-white districts. Alabama redrew its maps. Mississippi and South Carolina followed. Louisiana's governor suspended an ongoing primary election to erase a majority-Black congressional seat. Florida's DeSantis — who admitted he had advance knowledge of the ruling — immediately used it to sign a new 24–4 congressional map targeting four Democratic incumbents and gutting the voter-approved Fair Districts amendment that Floridians had passed specifically to ban partisan gerrymandering. State Representative Justin Pearson called it "a political lynching." He was not wrong.

But Callais didn't start this. It accelerated a wave that †rump himself set in motion. He personally pressured Texas into a mid-decade redistricting in summer 2025, explicitly targeting five additional Republican seats by cracking apart Black and Latino communities. Missouri followed, splitting Kansas City to eliminate Rep. Emanuel Cleaver's district; and when 300,000 Missourians signed petitions to put the map to a referendum vote, Republican courts helped run out the clock. North Carolina redrew its maps in October 2025. Indiana passed new maps targeting two additional GOP seats. More than a quarter of all congressional seats in the United States have already been redrawn mid-decade — the most aggressive redistricting wave since the 1960s.

This is not a regional quirk or a Southern relic. This is a nationally coordinated assault on voting rights and democratic representation, directed from the White House and executed by Republican-controlled state legislatures from the Deep South to the Midwest. They've traded muskets for redistricting software, and †rump handed them the ammunition.

We can write letters. We can call representatives. We should do both. But we can also do something those states will feel in their bones: we can stop spending our money there.

The Economics of Complicity

Money is the language power speaks fluently. And these states are deeply fluent in sports revenue.

The Southeastern Conference, the sporting crown jewel of the South, distributed over $1.03 billion to its 16 member schools in the 2024–25 fiscal year alone, a jump of more than $200 million from the previous year. Each full-member school took home an average of $72.4 million. That money comes from TV contracts, bowl games, the College Football Playoff, and critically from the millions of fans who buy tickets, book hotel rooms, fill bars, and pack restaurants every single Saturday from September through January.

The economic ripple effect of a single SEC home game is staggering. Alabama football adds close to $17 million per week to Tuscaloosa's economy during the season, representing a critical portion of the city's entire general fund. A single University of Texas home game generates an estimated $63 million in revenue for Austin businesses. Missouri Tigers game days inject millions into Columbia, Missouri, and some businesses in small college towns pull in 50% of their annual revenue during football season. Hotel occupancy in these cities hits 90%+ on game weekends. Restaurants hire double the staff. Bars in small college towns report that a single team loss can wipe out 70% of their projected income for a tournament weekend.

When you spend money in these states — on SEC football tickets, on tailgate weekends, on NASCAR races in Talladega and Darlington, on PGA Tour events, on NFL and pro sports events in Atlanta, Houston, Dallas, Kansas City, St. Louis, Miami, Tampa, Jacksonville, New Orleans, Nashville, Charlotte, and Indianapolis — you are funding the local economies of states that are actively dismantling the right of Black Americans to have their votes count equally.

That money doesn't stay in the stadium. It flows into the tax base of state governments that are gerrymandering Black districts into oblivion. It funds the chambers of commerce that fund the politicians who fund the maps. Every dollar you spend in these states is a dollar that says: this is fine.

It is not fine.

The States Doing It — And What They Did

• Texas — At †rump's personal direction, Republicans redrew congressional maps mid-decade in summer 2025 to crack apart Black and Latino communities and add five Republican seats. The Supreme Court allowed it to stand.

• Missouri — Republicans called a special session in August 2025 to split Kansas City into surrounding rural districts, targeting Rep. Emanuel Cleaver's seat. When 300,000 voters signed petitions to put the map to a referendum, courts helped Republicans run out the filing deadline clock. The Missouri Supreme Court is now hearing two challenges to the map, but the 2026 filing deadline has already passed.

• North Carolina — New maps enacted October 2025 by simple legislative majority, with no governor's veto allowed under state law. Federal court challenge failed.

• Indiana — State House passed new maps in late 2025 targeting two additional Republican seats.

• Tennessee — After Callais, Governor Lee called a special session. Legislators passed a new map destroying Memphis's 9th Congressional District, the state's only Democratic-held, majority-Black district. State Rep. Justin Pearson called it "a political lynching."

• Alabama — Moved immediately post-Callais to redraw majority-Black districts, despite being under a prior court order to add majority-Black representation.

• Mississippi — Pursuing new maps to eliminate minority representation.

• South Carolina — State House passed a resolution on May 6, 2026 to pursue redistricting after the close of the regular session.

• Louisiana — Governor suspended an active primary election to erase a majority-Black congressional district. Voters had already begun casting ballots.

• Florida — DeSantis called a special session in April 2026 and proposed a 24–4 congressional map targeting four incumbent Democrats: Kathy Castor (Tampa), Darren Soto (Orlando), Lois Frankel (West Palm Beach), and Debbie Wasserman Schultz (Fort Lauderdale). The map passed the Republican-controlled legislature on party-line votes and was signed into law on May 4. DeSantis has admitted he had advance knowledge of the Callais ruling and used it to gut Florida's Fair Districts amendment, which voters had passed specifically to ban partisan gerrymandering.

• Georgia — Governor Kemp has announced Georgia will not redistrict before 2026, but has left the door open for 2028. Georgia remains on the boycott list because its sports economy directly funds the political infrastructure of a state that has already enacted voter suppression laws and is expected to gerrymander the moment it legally can.

In every one of these states, the playbook is identical: take a city with a large Black population, crack it apart, and drown it in surrounding white rural districts. Memphis. Kansas City. Houston. Jackson. The names change. The strategy doesn't.

The Full Roster: What to Boycott

SEC Football

The SEC is the financial engine of several of the worst offending states. Every home game Saturday is an economic event worth tens of millions of dollars to local economies. Here is who benefits directly from your fandom:

• Alabama Crimson Tide (Tuscaloosa, AL)

• Auburn Tigers (Auburn, AL)

• LSU Tigers (Baton Rouge, LA)

• Ole Miss Rebels (Oxford, MS)

• Mississippi State Bulldogs (Starkville, MS)

• Georgia Bulldogs (Athens, GA)

• Florida Gators (Gainesville, FL)

• Tennessee Volunteers (Knoxville, TN)

• South Carolina Gamecocks (Columbia, SC)

• Arkansas Razorbacks (Fayetteville, AR)

• Texas Longhorns (Austin, TX)

• Texas A&M Aggies (College Station, TX)

• Missouri Tigers (Columbia, MO)

Big Ten Teams in Offending States

• Indiana Hoosiers (Bloomington, IN) — Big Ten

• Purdue Boilermakers (West Lafayette, IN) — Big Ten

ACC Teams in Offending States

• North Carolina Tar Heels (Chapel Hill, NC)

• NC State Wolfpack (Raleigh, NC)

• Duke Blue Devils (Durham, NC)

• Wake Forest Demon Deacons (Winston-Salem, NC)

• Clemson Tigers (Clemson, SC)

Don't buy tickets. Don't buy merchandise. Don't book the hotel. Don't eat at the sports bar that pays its lease on football Saturdays. And when these games are on TV, be aware that your viewership drives the advertising rates that fund the billion-dollar TV contracts that make these programs financially untouchable.

Pro Teams in Offending States

This goes well beyond football. Here is every major professional team across the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, MLS, and WNBA in states that are actively gerrymandering:

Alabama

• No major pro teams — but home to Talladega, Auburn, and Alabama football (see SEC above)

Arkansas

• No major pro teams — but home to the Arkansas Razorbacks (SEC)

Florida

• Jacksonville Jaguars (NFL)

• Miami Dolphins (NFL)

• Tampa Bay Buccaneers (NFL)

• Miami Heat (NBA)

• Orlando Magic (NBA)

• Miami Marlins (MLB)

• Tampa Bay Rays (MLB)

• Florida Panthers (NHL)

• Tampa Bay Lightning (NHL)

• Inter Miami CF (MLS)

Georgia

• Atlanta Falcons (NFL)

• Atlanta Hawks (NBA)

• Atlanta Braves (MLB)

• Atlanta United FC (MLS)

Indiana

• Indianapolis Colts (NFL)

• Indiana Pacers (NBA)

• Indiana Fever (WNBA)

Louisiana

• New Orleans Saints (NFL)

• New Orleans Pelicans (NBA)

Mississippi

• No major pro teams — but home to Ole Miss Rebels and Mississippi State Bulldogs (SEC)

Missouri

• Kansas City Chiefs (NFL) — playing in the city Republicans just gerrymandered

• Kansas City Royals (MLB)

• St. Louis Cardinals (MLB)

• St. Louis Blues (NHL)

• St. Louis City SC (MLS)

North Carolina

• Carolina Panthers (NFL)

• Charlotte Hornets (NBA)

• Carolina Hurricanes (NHL)

• Charlotte FC (MLS)

South Carolina

• No major pro teams — but home to Darlington Raceway, Clemson Tigers (ACC), and South Carolina Gamecocks (SEC)

Tennessee

• Tennessee Titans (NFL)

• Memphis Grizzlies (NBA)

• Nashville Predators (NHL)

• Nashville SC (MLS)

Texas

• Houston Texans (NFL)

• Dallas Cowboys (NFL)

• Dallas Mavericks (NBA)

• Houston Rockets (NBA)

• San Antonio Spurs (NBA)

• Houston Astros (MLB)

• Texas Rangers (MLB)

• Dallas Stars (NHL)

• FC Dallas (MLS)

• Austin FC (MLS)

NASCAR

NASCAR is culturally and economically embedded in many of the worst offending states. Its marquee tracks in gerrymandering states include:

• Talladega Superspeedway — Talladega, Alabama

• Darlington Raceway — Darlington, South Carolina

• Bristol Motor Speedway — Bristol, Tennessee

• Atlanta Motor Speedway — Hampton, Georgia

• Charlotte Motor Speedway — Concord, North Carolina

• Texas Motor Speedway — Fort Worth, Texas

• Daytona International Speedway — Daytona Beach, Florida

• Homestead-Miami Speedway — Homestead, Florida

Every race weekend at these tracks pumps millions into the local economies of states actively working to dilute Black voting power. Skip the race weekends. Skip the merchandise. Skip the streaming.

PGA Tour Events in Offending States

The Masters alone generates an estimated $100–150 million for the Augusta, Georgia economy annually — and that's just one event. The 2026 PGA Tour schedule is loaded with major stops in gerrymandering states:

• The Masters — Augusta National Golf Club, Augusta, Georgia

• RBC Heritage — Harbour Town Golf Links, Hilton Head, South Carolina

• Myrtle Beach Classic — Myrtle Beach National, South Carolina

• Zurich Classic of New Orleans — TPC Louisiana, Louisiana

• Cadillac Championship — Trump National Doral, Florida

• Truist Championship — Quail Hollow Club, Charlotte, North Carolina

• Byron Nelson — The Club at Carlton Woods, Texas

• Charles Schwab Challenge — Colonial Country Club, Fort Worth, Texas

• Tour Championship — East Lake Golf Club, Atlanta, Georgia

Don't buy tickets. Don't book the hospitality packages. Don't watch the broadcast if you can help it. Every eyeball and every dollar is a vote for the status quo.

Everything Else

This isn't just about sports. The principle is the same at every level:

• Conventions and conferences: If your industry is booking a convention in Nashville, Atlanta, Charlotte, Dallas, Houston, Miami, Tampa, Jacksonville, Kansas City, Indianapolis, or New Orleans, push back. Loudly.

• Tourism: Florida beaches, Smoky Mountains, New Orleans French Quarter, Austin entertainment districts — these are choices, not obligations. Spend those dollars elsewhere.

• Streaming and merchandise: Every jersey purchase, every pay-per-view buy, every piece of licensed gear is a revenue signal. Send a different one.

• Corporate headquarters: Many major corporations are headquartered in Atlanta, Charlotte, Dallas, and Houston. When these companies stay silent about the dismantling of voting rights in their own backyards, they deserve to hear from their customers.

"But What About the People Inside These States Who Oppose This?"

This is the most important objection, and it deserves a direct answer.

There are millions of people in Tennessee, Georgia, Louisiana, Alabama, Florida, Missouri, Texas, North Carolina, Indiana, and the other offending states who are horrified by what their state governments are doing. Many of them are Black. Many of them are the exact voters being gerrymandered out of representation. They didn't choose this, and an economic boycott will affect them too.

This is a genuine tension, and we should not pretend otherwise.

But here is the hard truth: economic pressure is one of the few tools left. The courts have been captured. Congress is paralyzed. The DOJ has been weaponized against accountability rather than for it. And the state legislatures doing this gerrymandering are doing it precisely because they believe they can act without consequence — because the maps they're drawing will protect their majorities from electoral accountability.

When the NBA pulled its 2017 All-Star Game from Charlotte over North Carolina's anti-transgender bathroom bill, the state reversed the law within a year. When the NFL threatened to pull the Super Bowl from Arizona in 1993 over the state's refusal to recognize Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Arizona voters passed the holiday. Economic pain produces political change when nothing else does.

Directing your boycott dollars toward businesses within these states that are actively fighting back — toward Black-owned businesses, toward organizations like the Southern Coalition for Social Justice and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund — is not hypocrisy. It's precision.

What to Do Instead

Spend your money in states that are fighting for voting rights. Support businesses, events, and tourism in states that have robust voting protections. Attend games at Michigan, Ohio State, Penn State, Oregon. Buy tickets to events in Minnesota, Colorado, Illinois. Take your convention dollars to Philadelphia, Chicago, Denver, Seattle, Boston.

Support organizations doing the legal and legislative work:

• NAACP Legal Defense Fund

• Southern Coalition for Social Justice

• Brennan Center for Justice

• Campaign Legal Center

• Democracy Docket — tracks every redistricting fight in real time

• Fair Fight Action (Georgia)

• ACLU Voting Rights Project

Demand the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. Senators Durbin and Warnock have reintroduced it. Call your representatives. Tell them that restoring the Voting Rights Act is a condition of your vote, your donations, and your support.

Track the fight in real time. Democracy Docket's live redistricting tracker is updated continuously and shows exactly where every state stands.

Make noise. Post about the boycott. Tag the SEC. Tag the NFL. Tag NASCAR. Let them know that their silence about the systematic disenfranchisement of Black voters in their host states is not neutral — it's a choice, and choices have consequences.

The Bottom Line

These states have decided, in the immediate aftermath of a Supreme Court ruling that legal scholars are calling the end of multiracial democracy, to race each other to see who can most completely erase Black political representation before the 2026 midterms. This is not just the South anymore. It is Texas and Missouri and Indiana and North Carolina and Florida, where the governor bragged he knew the ruling was coming and had the maps ready to sign before the ink was dry. They are doing it openly. They are doing it proudly. They are betting that the rest of the country will keep buying tickets, keep booking hotel rooms, keep watching games, keep spending money, and that nothing will change.

Prove them wrong.

The SEC doesn't generate $1.03 billion from the goodwill of empty stadiums. The Cowboys and Texans and Chiefs don't sell out without your eyeballs on the broadcast. NASCAR doesn't fill Talladega without fans making the trip. The Masters doesn't sell out without the world showing up. The NBA, the MLB, the NHL, the MLS — every league operating in these states is cashing in on your fandom while the states they call home strip Black voters of their political power.

The world is watching. Make them feel it.