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The NAACP over the weekend issued a travel advisory for Florida, joining two other civil rights groups in warning potential tourists that new laws and policies taken by Governor Ron DeSantis and Florida lawmakers “open up hostility to African Americans, people of color and LGBTQ + individual..”
The NAACP, a longtime advocate for Black Americans, joined the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), a Latino civil rights organization, and Equality Florida, a gay rights advocacy group, in issuing travel advisories for the Sunshine State, where tourism is one of the country’s largest job sectors.
The warning approved by the board of directors of the NAACP told tourists that before traveling to Florida, they should know that the country “devalues and marginalizes the contribution of, and challenges faced by African Americans and other communities of color.”
An email was sent Sunday morning to DeSantis’ office seeking comment.
Tourism is big business in Florida
Florida is one of the most popular states in the US for tourists, and tourism is one of the largest industries. More than 137.5 million tourists visited Florida last year, marking a return to pre-pandemic levels, according to Visit Florida, the state’s tourism promotion agency.
Tourism supports 1.6 million full-time and part-time jobs, and visitors spent $98.8 billion in Florida in 2019, the last year figures are available.
The NAACP’s decision comes after the DeSantis administration in January rejected the College Board’s Advanced Placement African American Studies course.
DeSantis and Republican lawmakers have also advanced measures that would prohibit state colleges from having programs on diversity, equity and inclusion, as well as critical race theory, and also passed the Stop WOKE Act that limits certain race-based conversations and analyzes in schools and business.
Front burner22:01Book banning and Black history in Florida
This week, Florida governor Ron DeSantis signed another bill targeting the state’s education system into law. In this case, the law would defund state college programs that encourage diversity in higher education and limit the discussion of race in many courses. Under his leadership, Florida has become the epicenter of America’s culture wars — a struggle that often centers on classrooms and public education. In this episode, guest host Matthew Amha talks to Alex Ingram, a high school teacher who taught in Jacksonville, Florida, for ten years, before deciding that teaching there was no longer viable. For a transcript of this series, visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts
‘Shadow of Fear’
In danger to Hispanic travelers considering a visit to Florida, LULAC cited a new law that prohibits local governments from providing money to organizations that issue identification cards to people who are illegal in the country and invalidates out-of-state driver’s licenses held by undocumented immigrants. among others.
The law also requires hospitals that accept Medicaid to include a citizenship question on intake forms, which critics say is intended to prevent immigrants living in the U.S. illegally from seeking medical care.
“The actions taken by Governor DeSantis have cast a shadow of fear in communities across the state,” said Lydia Medrano, LULAC vice president for the Southeast region.
The Board of Education has voted to ban instruction about sexual orientation and gender identity at all ages, developing a statute called the ‘Don’t talk gay’ law. The move comes as the state’s Republican Governor Ron DeSantis is believed to be gearing up for the presidential election.
New efforts to limit discussion of LGBTQ topics in schools, removing books with gay characters from school libraries, new bans on gender-affirming treatment for minors, new restrictions on abortion access and laws allowing Floridians to carry concealed weapons without a permit . contribute to Florida’s Equality danger.
“Taken as a whole, Florida’s laws and policies targeting fundamental freedoms and rights pose a serious risk to the health and safety of travelers to the state,” Equality Florida counsel said.
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