On Monday, U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell (D-Hoover) joined 61 other Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) members to block name, image, or likeness (NIL) reform, telling several conferences and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) that they will not have their support if they remain silent on current redistricting plans.
"The Congressional Black Caucus believes institutions that profit from Black talent and Black communities have a responsibility to stand with those communities when their fundamental rights are under attack. Silence in the face of injustice is not neutrality — it is complicity," caucus members said in a statement posted to their website and on social media.
The CBC says that it sent letters to Southeastern Conference commissioner Greg Sankey, Atlantic Coast Conference commissioner James J. Phillips, Ph.D., and NCAA president Charlie Baker, "demanding immediate engagement and a public response regarding the ongoing assault on Black political representation throughout the South and across the nation."
"The Congressional Black Caucus cannot support legislation benefiting major athletic institutions that continue to remain silent while Black voting rights and Black political power are being systematically dismantled across the South," the group said.
— Rep. Terri A. Sewell (@RepTerriSewell) May 19, 2026
The Student Compensation and Opportunity through Rights and Endorsements Act (SCORE Act), co-sponsored by U.S. Rep. Shomari Figures (D-Mobile), was set to be voted on this week but has reportedly been pulled from the calendar, in part, due to opposition from the CBC.
"For generations, Black athletes have helped build college athletics into one of the most powerful and profitable industries in American life. The success, visibility, and cultural influence of major athletic conferences and institutions are inseparable from the talent, labor, leadership, and cultural contributions of Black communities. Yet at the very moment those same communities face coordinated attacks on their democratic representation, too many leaders across college athletics have chosen silence," the CBC said.
According to Politico, "House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has scheduled a Tuesday news conference with NAACP President Derrick Johnson to rail against the legislation."
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