DeSantis Slams Black Americans for Fear of Visiting Florida

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has responded to a Florida travel warning issued by The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). This weekend, the group joined the League of United Latin American Citizens and Equality Florida (LULAC) to warn that DeSantis’s policies are “openly hostile toward African Americans, people of color, and LGBTQ+ individuals.”

Many Walt Disney World Resort fans and Cast Members fear staying in Florida amid an increasingly oppressive environment. The Republican-led state legislature has passed a slew of anti-LGBTQIA+ laws, book bans, and public school curriculum restrictions. In January, he blocked the introduction of an African-American Studies Advanced Placement (AP) course.

The NAACP wrote that under DeSantis, Florida “devalues and marginalizes the contributions of, and the challenges faced by African Americans and other communities of color.”

“As Governor DeSantis announced last week, Florida is seeing record-breaking tourism. This is nothing more than a stunt,” a DeSantis spokesperson told CBS News. 

Florida hosted a record 137.6 million tourists in 2022. Still, this isn’t the first Florida travel advisory issued under DeSantis. In April, multiple nonprofits advised LGBTQIA+ Americans and people of color against visiting the state, suggesting a significant safety risk.

DeSantis promised to destroy “woke” ideology in Florida, and he’s paying the price in court. He’s currently facing a lawsuit from The Walt Disney Company after he dissolved the Reedy Creek Improvement District, a municipal district once operated by Walt Disney World Resort. The company alleges that the conservative Governor illegally retaliated against Disney for speaking out against the Parental Rights in Education Act. Better known as the “Don’t Say Gay” law, the controversial legislation severely restricts the discussion of sexuality in public schools and compels teachers to out LGBTQIA+ students to their parents.

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