By Sheila James
TALLAHASSEE, FL—While chastising Governor Ron DeSantis’ blatant neglect of the Florida Civil Rights Hall of Fame, a group of Capital city leaders challenged other corporations to join Disney in the fight against the punitive politics of the Florida Governor. The region’s leading pastors, elected officials and civil rights leaders revealed the most recent afront to communities of color regarding the governor’s failure to appoint up to nine Floridians to the Florida Civil Rights Hall of Fame. DeSantis has chosen to ignore the state law and instead continues his divisive culture war.
The attack on education, diversity and a truth telling of Black history are among the many outrages of the White nationalist agenda according to the Reverend Dr. RB Holmes. “This is an insult to all Floridians,” Holmes said. Tallahassee NAACP President attorney Mutaqee Akbar said, “He is excluding an entire generation,” referring to the civil rights movement of just 70 years ago.
Rev. Holmes issued a challenge, “We’re asking businesses and corporations to speak up. Is Disney the only one?” One of the state’s largest employers, Disney is pushing back in a very public war. The entertainment giant plans to abandon a 1-billion-dollar Nona campus project creating thousands of six figure jobs. The punitive politics of Governor Ron DeSantis could further impact Florida now that the NAACP issued a formal travel advisory discouraging Blacks from visiting the Sunshine State saying Gov. Ron DeSantis’ “aggressive attempts to erase Black history and to restrict diversity, equity, and inclusion programs in Florida schools.” The NAACP joins the League of United Latin American Citizens and LGBTQ advocacy group Equality Florida that have also issued travel advisories cautioning against traveling to Florida.
