The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People issued a travel advisory for Florida, alleging increased racism against black people.
The advisory was issued on the board of directors’ decision, citing Gov. Ron DeSantis‘s (R-FL) move to restrict Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programs in education. The travel advisory claims that his “so-called leadership” has made the state hostile to all non-white and LGBT people.
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On Monday, DeSantis signed a bill that banned public colleges and universities in the state from allotting money to diversity, equity, and inclusion programs.
“Florida is openly hostile toward African Americans, people of color and LGBTQ+ individuals. Before traveling to Florida, please understand that the state of Florida devalues and marginalizes the contributions of, and the challenges faced by African Americans and other communities of color,” the advisory reads.
“On a seeming quest to silence African-American voices, the Governor and the State of Florida have shown that African Americans are not welcome in the State of Florida,” it adds.
NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson painted the fight as existential in nature, accusing DeSantis of threatening democracy and the “democratic ideals that our union was founded upon.” He invited others to join the NAACP in “the battle for the soul of our nation.”
“Once again, hate-inspired state leaders have chosen to put politics over people. Governor Ron DeSantis and the state of Florida have engaged in a blatant war against principles of diversity and inclusion and rejected our shared identities to appeal to a dangerous, extremist minority,” Chair of the NAACP Board of Directors, Leon Russell, said.
The Florida governor bashed the advisory on Sunday when asked by a reporter, calling it a “joke,” Florida Politics reported.
“What a joke,” DeSantis said. “Yeah, we’ll see, we’ll see how effective that is.”
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“So this is just ridiculous. I mean, it’s ridiculous, and we’re proud to be leading the nation in tourism. I think we’ve led it for many years in a row now, and we really, I think we’ve had as good a year as we’ve ever had,” he added.
DeSantis has previously criticized DEI programs as constituting discrimination, saying in several speeches that the acronym should stand for “discrimination, exclusion, and indoctrination.”
