Texas Governor's attempt to end diversity hiring programs has NAACP calling for sports team boycott
HOUSTON - Texas Governor Greg Abbott says the letter was a reminder that equity quotas are illegal under federal and state law. But as far as the NAACP is concerned, the governor wants to take a racist step backwards.
During a press conference, Texas NAACP President Gary Bledsoe asked major sports associations, like the NFL, NBA, and MLB to not have major sporting events in Texas.
BACKGROUND: Gov. Greg Abbott tells state agencies to stop considering diversity in hiring
Why? A letter the governor recently sent to universities and state agencies warning that diversity equity and inclusion, or DEI, has been manipulated to push policies that expressly favor some demographic groups to the detriment of others.
The governor's office says when a state agency adjusts its employment practices, based on factors other than merit, it is not following the law.
"This is an unfortunate attempt for him to placate the far right MAGA base in this state to say hey I'm one of you," said State Representative Ron Reynolds from Missouri City.
Reynolds says racial inequity and disparities still exist, and the governor is attempting to take Texas backwards. He says the only way to stop it is to hit the Lone Star State in its pocketbook.
"We're appealing to the NBA, the NFL, Major League Baseball, and the NCAA to not do business in Texas, in terms of hosting a tournament, hosting a Super Bowl, hosting an All-Star game, hosting a Final 4 until Governor Abbott rescinds this," Reynolds said.
"They tried to get people to boycott and not have the Super Bowl a few years ago in Houston, because we wouldn't allow men to go into women's bathrooms. That failed. The Super Bowl ended up taking place in Houston. These are just empty threats, they never materialize," said Jonathan Saenz with the conservative group Texas Values.