NAACP publishes Florida Travel Advisory and joins Latino and LGBTQ groups
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People issued a travel advisory for Florida on Saturday, saying that under Gov. Ron DeSantis, the state is “openly hostile to African Americans, people of color, and LGBTQ+ individuals.”
The NAACP is on board the League of United Latin American Citizensa civil rights organization that issued a travel warning for Florida on Wednesday, and Florida equalitya gay rights advocacy group that released one last month.
The NAACP’s travel advisory does not explicitly advise against travel to Florida. But it urges travelers to be aware of the state’s politics, and the organization said that “the governor and the state of Florida have shown that African Americans are not welcome in the state of Florida.”
The NAACP said in a rack on Saturday that the travel advisory was a “direct response to Governor Ron DeSantis’s aggressive efforts to erase black history and limit diversity, equality, and inclusion programs in Florida schools.”
The advisory comes after Mr. DeSantis signed into law last week that hinders diversity programs at the state’s public universities and colleges. The advisory also mentioned concerns about a number of other laws recently passed in Florida regarding voting rights And concealed carry of guns.
Mr. DeSantis’ office did not respond to a request for comment on Sunday.
Following the signing of legislation last week on diversity, equity and inclusion programmes, Mr. DeSantis said the law would take care of it “Florida’s institutions encourage diversity of thought, civic discourse and the pursuit of truth for future generations.” Mr. DeSantis has often spoken out about what he describes as “wake indoctrination” and leftist agendas in schools. It’s not clear how much impact the rulings will have on travel to Florida. But they, along with his escalating disputes with Disney, showed how Mr. DeSantis’ reliance on conservative culture-war issues as he gears up for what is expected to be a presidential run collided with the state’s signature industry.
Disney announced Thursday that it was abandoning a plan to build an Orlando office complex that would have cost about $1 billion and brought thousands of jobs to the state.
Derrick Johnson, the NAACP’s president and chief executive, said in a statement Saturday that under Mr. DeSantis’ leadership, Florida had become “hostile to black Americans and in direct conflict with the democratic ideals on which our union was founded.”
“Let me be clear,” said Mr. Johnson, “failing to accurately portray the horrors and inequalities Black Americans have faced and continue to face is a disservice to students and a dereliction of duty to everyone.”
While the NAACP travel advisory follows new legislation restricting diversity, equality, and inclusion programs in Florida schools, the League of United Latin American Citizens, or LULAC, travel advisory raised concerns about legislation signed by Mr. DeSantis targeted undocumented immigrants earlier this month.
The law requires private employers in Florida with 25 or more employees to confirm an employee’s eligibility to work in the United States. It will also invalidate ID cards issued to undocumented immigrants in other states, like New Yorkand it requires Florida hospitals that accept Medicaid to ask patients if they are US citizens or if they are “lawfully present” in the country.
David Cruz, a LULAC spokesperson, said Sunday that the organization’s travel advice, depending on a person’s immigration status, was either a warning not to travel to Florida or advice to use caution when traveling there.
Domingo Garcia, the national president of LULAC, said during a press conference on Wednesday that Florida “used immigrants as political piñatas to basically just get votes”.
In addition to issuing a travel advisory, Mr. Garcia said LULAC is considering filing a lawsuit in federal court against the state of Florida when the legislation goes into effect in July. Mr. Cruz said the organization was also planning protests “in key Florida cities with significant Latino-essential working-class populations.”
Florida equality issued its travel advisory last month citing concerns about a number of Florida laws, including last year’s passage of legislation banning classroom instruction and discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity in some elementary school classes, a law that opponents often refer to as the “Don’t Say Gay” law.
Nadine SmithEquality Florida’s executive director said in a statement last month that her organization had to respond with a travel advisory “because the laws take away fundamental rights and freedoms.”
LULAC officials pointed to the economic impact Arizona experienced after the state passed legislation in 2010 that was seen as the country’s toughest effort to crack down on illegal immigration and criticized as encouraging racial profiling. a study at the found time that Arizona lost about $141 million in conference cases alone after the state passed its legislation.
Lydia Guzmán, the chair of LULAC’s National Immigration Commission and state director of the organization in Arizona, said the state has taken a serious economic hit as a result of negative reactions to the legislation.
“I see that happening in Florida as well,” Ms. Guzmán said.