Birmingham, Alabama’s Mayor Says Black Athletes Should Leave If State Passes Anti-DEI Law

Alabama, a state with a long history of anti-Black racism and Black resistance, may become the latest Republican-controlled state to ban or restrict diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. Now, the leader of one of Alabama’s major cities is threatening that its anti-DEI measure may hit the state where it most prides itself: its athletics.

Banning DEI programs

On Thursday, a committee of the Alabama Senate approved Senate Bill 129, banning diversity, equity and inclusion programs from various state institutions, ranging from local school boards to state-level government agencies to public universities. The proposed law headed to the House of Representatives would also ban any program that taught a “divisive concept.” Critics worry that the broad language could go as far as to threaten multicultural student groups at Alabama colleges. The committee’s approval of the bill was driven exclusively by white and Republican committee members.

‘Organizing Black parents and athletes to attend other institutions outside of the state’

In response to the bill, Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin published a series of tweets on Wednesday before the committee’s approval, questioning the proposal and suggesting that student-athletes could and should stay away from the state. Woodfin specifically asked the leaders and coaches at the state’s top universities to weigh in, asking them, “Do you support this prohibition of diversity and inclusion?”

Woodfin then addressed parents of student-athletes on whether they would send their children to schools in the state if Alabama established these anti-diversity policies. He then took the idea a step further, noting that despite being “the biggest Bama fan,” he would “have no problem organizing Black parents and athletes to attend other institutions outside of the state where diversity and inclusion are prioritized.”

Woodfin wrapped up his thread by comparing the proposed policy to segregationist former Governor George Wallace blocking school doors and lamented the irony of endorsing the proposal during Black History Month.

“Y’all could have at least waited until March 1,” he wrote.

Alabama’s histories of racism and sports

As referenced by Woodfin, Alabama has a long history of anti-Blackness and racial struggles, such as the opposition of Governor Wallace to desegregation efforts. Montgomery was the site of the 1955-1956 bus boycott that became the first major public action campaign of the Civil Rights Movement. Despite this long history of racial reckoning, Alabama still has struggled with bias in recent years, ranging from racist taunts against Black college football players to discriminatory policies against Black voters. Alabama also has a long history of success in college sports. The University of Alabama football program, in particular, is one of the country’s most prominent college sports programs and has won six championships in the last 15 years.

With the growing movement of anti-DEI efforts across the country, the Alabama GOP shows no signs of slowing down its efforts to ban the programs in the state. But given Alabama’s history of sports excellence, Woodfin’s threat to organize a boycott of Black athletes could hit the state where it hurts.