The Patriot Post® · NAACP Attacks Sports in Can-Do Texas

It seems that Life, Liberty, and Rule of Law are just too much for our nation’s oldest civil rights organization to tolerate.

In a bizarre letter from NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson to players’ associations for the National Football League, National Basketball Association, National Hockey League, and Major League Baseball, Johnson urged free agents within those professional sports to think twice before signing a contract to play for a Texas-based sports team.

“I write to you today,” Johnson began, “in an attempt to appeal not only to your influential platforms as highly regarded athletes but to your respective purposes as parents and role models for both our children and those in your personal lives. 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.”

We don’t think the term “constitutional rights” means what Johnson thinks it means. If it did, he would’ve undertaken to educate his audience by laying his finger upon those articles of the Constitution that guarantee a woman’s right to kill her unborn child; that guarantee a citizen’s right to vote in an election without first identifying himself; and that require American schoolchildren to wear masks while in the classroom despite being at greater risk of dying in a car accident than due to COVID-19.

The letter hysterically laments “an incomprehensible assault on basic human rights” unfolding in Texas, and it urges professional athletes to “seek employment with sports teams located in states that will protect, honor, and serve your families with integrity.”

Johnson ominously warns: “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.”

“We are now pleading with you,” Johnson concludes, “if you are a free agent and are considering employment in Texas, look elsewhere. The Texas government will not protect your family. … Texas is not safe for you, your spouse, or your children. Until the legislation is overturned, Texas isn’t safe for anyone.”

It’s a sternly worded memo, to be sure — chock full of misinformation and hyperbole. But its impact will likely be limited. Outside of a relatively small handful of wokesters, professional athletes are interested in making coin and competing for championships. No, LeBron James won’t be joining the Dallas Mavericks, or the Houston Rockets, or the San Antonio Spurs; and washed-up Colin Kaepernick couldn’t make an NFL roster in Houston or Dallas even if he wanted to.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott, whom Johnson singles out as his archvillain, should instead be celebrated as a can-do governor who’s getting things done. While the election of doddering Joe Biden has caused tens of millions of Americans to doubt the honesty and reliability of their electoral system, Abbott has worked to protect voting rights and restore the integrity of the Lone Star State’s elections.

Where Biden has ushered in and overseen an illegal immigration catastrophe on our southern border, Abbott has enacted a 10-point border-security plan to counter the American president’s malfeasance.

Where Biden has forced a permanent pandemic on the American people, with masking mandates on its children, and vaccination mandates on its workers, Abbott has pushed back.

Where the party of Biden has made possible the slaughter of more than 62 million of our most vulnerable Americans, Abbott’s state has boldly led the way in protecting the unborn through the passage of its landmark fetal heartbeat law — a law that has been fast-tracked to the Supreme Court.

And in the world of sports, which Johnson’s NAACP is directly targeting, Governor Abbott just last week stood strong for women’s sports, and for the idea that our daughters shouldn’t be competing against boys and men in athletic events.

In the end, Johnson’s NAACP is wrong to target Texas, and its “constitutional” claims would be laughable if its goals weren’t so serious. For the sake of good governance and state sovereignty, let’s hope our nation’s professional athletes have the common sense to see through it.