Nervous NAACP issues travel advisory in Florida

How nervous is the NAACP that Governor Ron DeSantis is likely to enter the Republican presidential primary this week? Nervous enough to garner headlines for issuing a travel advisory to its members considering traveling to Florida. The race-baiting grifters are out in full force now. It is what Democrats do. When all else fails, accuse white people of being racist.

It’s malarkey. No one seriously thinks Ron DeSantis is a racist man, not even those who accuse him of it. But, there is fundraising to do and headlines to make over such an ugly label. Fortunately, the haters have used the term so much and so easily that most people no longer pay much attention to it. It’s like water off a duck’s back. Black people accusing a Republican politician of being racist? Yawn. The slur has been used so much that it has been rendered almost meaningless.

The NAACP insists that black people are at risk if they visit Florida because of the policies Governor DeSantis has signed into law. The group says that black Americans, people of color, and LGBTQ people are entering a state that is openly hostile toward them. Heh. Haven’t any members of the NAACP ever been to South Beach? Key West? Let’s be clear – this is targeted at family tourism and especially those planning a trip to any of the Disney properties. Busy parents don’t have a lot of spare time to keep up with news from around the country. The NAACP wants to misinform them as to what the governor has signed into law in order to demonize him. The long knives are out.

This is the press release:

Today, the NAACP Board of Directors issued a formal travel advisory for the state of Florida. The travel advisory comes in direct response to Governor Ron DeSantis’ aggressive attempts to erase Black history and to restrict diversity, equity, and inclusion programs in Florida schools.

The formal travel notice states, “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.”

“Let me be clear – failing to teach an accurate representation of the horrors and inequalities that Black Americans have faced and continue to face is a disservice to students and a dereliction of duty to all,” said NAACP President & CEO Derrick Johnson. “Under the leadership of Governor Desantis, the state of Florida has become hostile to Black Americans and in direct conflict with the democratic ideals that our union was founded upon. He should know that democracy will prevail because its defenders are prepared to stand up and fight. We’re not backing down, and we encourage our allies to join us in the battle for the soul of our nation.”

The travel advisory was initially proposed to the Board of Directors by NAACP’s Florida State Conference. NAACP’s collective consideration of this advisory is a result from unrelenting attacks on fundamental freedoms from the Governor and his legislative body.

“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,” said Chair of the NAACP Board of Directors, Leon Russell. “We will not not allow our rights and history to be held hostage for political grandstanding. The NAACP proudly fights against the malicious attacks in Florida, against Black Americans. I encourage my fellow Floridians to join in this fight to protect ourselves and our democracy.”

Following Gov. DeSantis’ so-called leadership in driving the state to reject students’ access to AP African American studies course in March, the NAACP distributed 10,000 books to 25 predominantly Black communities across the state in collaboration with the American Federation of Teachers’s Reading Opens the World program. The majority of the books donated were titles banned under the state’s increasingly restrictive laws. The NAACP continues to encourage local branches and youth councils to start community libraries to ensure access to representative literature.

The NAACP encourages Florida residents to join this effort to defeat the regressive policies of this Governor and this state legislature. Interested residents and supporters can visit www.naacp.org for additional information and updates.

You’ll notice the group asks that Florida residents “join this effort”, which is necessary because Florida voters re-elected DeSantis just a few months ago with a blow-out level of support.

Interestingly enough, the news last week was that tourism numbers are up in Florida for Q1 in 2023. Also, the unemployment rate is 2.6%, lower than the national rate.

Florida sees record tourism in Q1 of 2023https://t.co/Uw7mdfuc6e

— Florida’s Voice (@FLVoiceNews) May 21, 2023

Gov. Ron DeSantis’ office celebrated that Florida witnessed a record 37.9 million visitors in the first quarter of 2023, the highest ever recorded in a quarter.

That tally includes 34.6 million domestic visitors and 1.8 million international.

According to the governor’s office, overseas travel is perilously close to a “full recovery” since the coronavirus pandemic, and the figures for Q1 2023 are up 36% from the same time in 2022.

Florida’s unemployment rate also held at a low 2.6% for April, which the governor’s office bragged is the lowest “among the top 10 largest states.”

The Sunshine State’s 2.6% is 0.8% lower than the national rate of 3.4%.

Florida under @RonDeSantisFL: unprecedented success (borne out in tourism, domestic in-migration, job numbers), deep red electoral shift, and the most significant conservative legislative reform package ever.

The left: maybe travel advisories?
Media: brilliant.

It’s just noise.

— Bryan Griffin (@BryanDGriffin) May 21, 2023

Haters gonna hate and we can expect more race-baiters and other Democrat organizations to continue their campaign of misinformation against DeSantis. The laws passed by the Florida Legislature protect children and families so that parents remain in control, not school boards or teacher unions. The teaching of American history will not be overtaken by liberals who want to rewrite it in order to blame white Americans for all the country’s problems. America is the greatest experiment on earth and while it hasn’t been perfect, it is unmatched. There is a reason that people are desperate to get into this country, not get out of the country.

The language used by the racebaiters is laughable. And, the claim that “hate-inspired state leaders” put politics above people is one of the most ironic accusations. Pot/kettle. On Friday, for example, a gay pride organization canceled its festival, citing the governor’s signature on anti-drag show legislation. The truth is that the governor signed into law a ban on drag shows and other sexually explicit live performances with young children in the vicinity. Pride parades don’t include drag shows. They are parades with drag queens on floats, sure, but it’s far from a drag show atmosphere.

There is no new ground being mined here by the NAACP. It’s the status quo for Democrats when a presidential election is on the horizon. I expect Florida will continue to break state records for tourism as more and more families break out of their pandemic ruts and embrace more freedom of movement with each other.