The NAACP has ridiculously issued a travel advisory for the state of Florida claiming that it is hostile to Black Americans and rather than telling the public that it’s completely untrue, the White House press secretary Karine-Jean Pierre further spread the false narrative making matters worse.
According to the NAACP President & CEO Derrick Johnson, “Under the leadership of Governor DeSantis, the state of Florida has become hostile to Black Americans and in direct conflict with the democratic ideals that our union was founded upon.”
This was a bold proclamation from the NAACP President and when reporters asked the White House for comment, the press secretary took a dishonest political stance to attack Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis instead of quashing any rumors that Florida is unsafe for travel or “dangerous.”
“So, I’m not going to comment on travel advisories specifically, but I’ll say this more broadly — and where we have been, as an administration, as a White House, we’ve been outspoken about the impact of misguided policies advanced by Florida lawmakers,” the press secretary said.
“Republicans in Florida have attacked diversity. They’ve attacked inclusion efforts. They’ve limited the teaching of black history. And they’ve launched attacks on the LGBT youth, immigrants, educators, and women’s reproductive freedom. That’s what you have seen from lawmakers in Florida. So I will let NAACP, I’ll let LULAC speak to specifics of their travel advisories.”
“But this administration is going to, as we have for the past two years, continue to speak out against discriminatory policies pushed by state leaders across the country. And we’ve seen them across the country, by Republicans — extreme Republicans putting forth these policies, these legislations that hurt Americans, that take away their freedom.”
DeSantis responded quickly and harshly to the false narrative trying to be created by the White House and NAACP.
“This is so ridiculous,” he said. “We’re proud to be leading the nation in tourism.”
“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. Ok? I’m going to make sure that we’re getting things done here, and we’re going to continue to make this state a great state.”
A noteworthy fact about Florida is that it also leads the nation in the number of black-owned businesses who seem not to be echoing the sentiment of the NAACP or White House.