– Openly hostile to blacks – Dagsavisen

The NAACP is one of the oldest and most influential civil rights organizations in the United States, and the acronym stands for “The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.” Now the organization is issuing a new travel advisory for people who want to visit Florida, with a warning, on the basis of the policy being carried out there.

– The advisory comes in direct response to Governor Ron DeSantis’ aggressive efforts to erase black history and curtail diversity, equity and inclusion programs in Florida’s schools, the NAACP writes in a press release which came out this weekend.

Republican Ron DeSantis is expected to announce his candidacy ahead of the 2024 presidential election very soon, perhaps this week.

Controversial

“Florida is openly hostile to African Americans, people of color and LGBT+ people. Before you travel to Florida, be aware that the state of Florida degrades and marginalizes the contributions of African Americans and other peoples of color, and the challenges they face,” write the organization.

Ron DeSantis has made several political decisions that have provoked strong reactions. DeSantis has made the fight against what he calls woke ideology a core battle as governor of Florida. “Woke” has developed into a derogatory term in some circles, meaning “politically correct”. It is central to what has almost become a culture war between the political camps in the United States.

Under DeSantis, Florida has prohibited teaching of the so-called “critical race theory”, which recognizes that structural racism is part of American history and society. DeSantis says this idea will teach students that “the country is rotten and that our institutions are illegitimate,” writing CNNwhich has tried to get comment from DeSantis’ representatives without success.

But DeSantis has previously dismissed the proposal for such a travel advisory as a “stunt,” according to Fox News.

– It is a pure stunt. And fine, if you want to waste time on a stunt, that’s fine. But I’m not wasting my time on it. I want to make sure we get things done here, DeSantis said in March, according to the report Fox News.

Florida is also Donald Trump’s new home state where he lives in his Mar-a-Lago home.

[ Slik havnet Ron DeSantis i woke-strid med Disney ]

Challenger to Trump

Florida governor Ron DeSantis is considered the biggest challenger to Donald Trump on the Republican side ahead of the presidential election in 2024. What he does in his job as governor of Florida is therefore watched with suspicious eyes.

He is in the midst of taking part in a “culture war” in the United States, and is also in a dispute with the popular Disney World amusement park in Florida. The dispute began over a year ago with DeSantis’ controversial law, which critics call “Don’t say gay”, but which is actually called “Parental Rights in Education”. It prohibits Florida public schools from teaching children up to third grade about sexual orientation or gender identity.

Activists demonstrated, and tried to garner support in public opinion, including the business community. A number of Disney employees joined in the protest. After initially remaining silent, Disney management also criticized the law. Disney is Florida’s largest private employer, with around 80,000 employees, and is a powerful player in the state.

Under DeSantis, Florida has also recently become the latest in a series of several states in the US to ban or greatly tighten the right to abortion: DeSantis has signed a ban on abortion after six weeks.

[ Dagsavisen møtte fans i Florida: Dette er Ron DeSantis ]

[ Kan bli president i USA: Nå forbyr han abort i seks uker ]