By A.G. Gancarski
(Source Florida Politics):
Gov. Ron DeSantis is deriding a travel advisory floated by the Florida NAACP in reaction to controversial legislation in the state.
“What a joke,” the Governor said in Orange Park, responding to a reporter’s question about the NAACP Florida State conference voting unanimously to appeal to the national organization to issue an advisory to Black people to steer clear of the Sunshine State.
“What a joke,” he repeated. “Yeah, we’ll see, we’ll see how effective that is.”
The Governor likened the proposal to people who traveled to Florida when pandemic restrictions predominated elsewhere, where “they would end up being spotted on the beach somewhere vacationing.”
“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,” DeSantis said.
He then again veered into COVID-19 ruminations about how people weren’t “treated like a normal human being” elsewhere. DeSantis said the NAACP proposal was one of many “stupid fights” in the country.
“This is a stunt to try to do that. It’s a pure stunt and fine, if you want to waste your time on a stunt, that’s fine. But I’m not wasting my time on your stunts,” DeSantis added.
The Florida NAACP doesn’t see it as a “stunt,” but as a response to the Governor “putting a bullseye on Black people’s backs.”
“What a travel advisory is that it allows us the NAACP to warn other Blacks across the country to not come to Florida, not send their children to Florida, not vacation in Florida if you’re Black,” said James Muwakkil, the Lee County NAACP branch President, as quoted by WINK News.
Hillsborough County NAACP President Yvette Lewis made similar remarks.
“We are an organization that protects people’s civil rights, and this is a first step to doing that,” Lewis said, as reported by the Tampa Bay Times. “People are seeing what’s happening in Florida. They’re paying attention, and I hope that help is coming.”
