#BoycottGeorgia
The Masters Tournament is scheduled to begin April 8 in Augusta, GA. But in the aftermath of repressive voting restrictions just passed by the state’s Republican led legislature and signed into law by a Republican governor, it is incumbent upon all PGA golfers to forcefully and publicly declare they will not play in a state that makes it more challenging for minorities to vote.
Now is a moment when Tiger Woods can show he is more than an automaton athlete, that he has a social conscience. Even though he is currently injured and would not be teeing off in Augusta, he must issue a public condemnation of the new law and advocate the Masters should be moved out of state if the law is not immediately revoked.
Similarly, professional and college baseball, basketball and football players should say they will not play in Georgia until the law is repealed. Major League Baseball’s All-Star game, scheduled to be played in Atlanta in July, should be moved (https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9410511/Civil-Rights-groups-DEMAND-Masters-MLB-Star-Game-MOVED-Georgia.html).
All athletes and entertainers regardless of color should #BoycottGeorgia.
Though the new law makes voting by minorities more difficult, the issue is not simply a black or brown one. All Americans who cherish universal freedoms should be enraged and stimulated to resist such anti democratic rules.
Accordingly, everyday Americans should #BoycottGeorgia companies. Coca-Cola, The Home Depot, Delta Airlines, UPS, Arby’s, Chick-fil-A are some of the more prominent enterprises based in the Peach State.
Georgia enacted the law under the guise of protecting the integrity of elections despite repeated assurances by state and federal election officials, law enforcement and courts that the 2020 election was free from fraud.
Discriminatory laws and actions generate consequences. Economic pressure can alter political decisions.
The NFL forced Arizona to change its policy on Martin Luther King Jr. Day observances after Phoenix lost a bid to host a Super Bowl. Only after the MLK day became a paid holiday did Phoenix host a Super Bowl. The NBA moved its All-Star game from Charlotte after North Carolina enacted a controversial “bathroom bill.” The law was subsequently rescinded.
It took the NFL several years to acknowledge the legitimacy of Colin Kaepernick’s kneeling protest against police treatment of black suspects. There can be no such delay in rejecting Georgia’s assault on voting rights (https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2021/03/29/opinions/georgia-voting-restrictions-sports-moore/index.html).
