NAACP Issues Travel Advisory About Florida

"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 statement Saturday. So the organization issued a formal travel advisory, calling the state "hostile to Black Americans," the Hill reports. The NAACP and President Derrick Johnson cited several policies backed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, including a bill signed into law last week blocking public colleges from spending money on diversity, equity, and inclusion programs. Johnson criticized "failing to teach an accurate representation of the horrors and inequalities that Black Americans have faced."

DeSantis' press secretary, Jeremy Redfern, responded with an email saying, "This is a stunt." The governor's aides responded similarly to recent travel advisories issued by League of United Latin American Citizens, the LGBTQ civil rights group Equality Florida, and the Florida Immigrant Coalition, per the Tallahassee Democrat. Another DeSantis aide shared a tweet touting that the state had more visitors last quarter than ever. The governor also has signed measures limiting discussion of race in training at workplaces and schools, and prohibiting an Advanced Placement African American Studies course in public schools. Under DeSantis, Johnson said, "Florida has become hostile to Black Americans and in direct conflict with the democratic ideals that our union was founded upon." (More NAACP stories.)