NAACP says Florida is 'openly hostile' toward African Americans. What you need to know.

The NAACP joined the ranks of Equality Florida and the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) over the weekend when the group issued a historic travel advisory for Florida, claiming that Gov. Ron DeSantis’ policies were undemocratic and “openly hostile” to people of color and who identify LGBTQ+.

“Florida is openly hostile toward African Americans, people of color and LGBTQ+ individuals," the travel advisory reads. "Before traveling to Florida, please understand that the state of Florida devalues and marginalizes the contributions of, and the challenges faced by African Americans and other communities of color.”

The travel advisory warning was officially approved Saturday after it was proposed to the NAACP’s board of directors. In it, the NAACP blasted "DeSantis’ aggressive attempts to erase Black history and to restrict diversity, equity, and inclusion programs in Florida schools.”

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Jeremy Redfern, the governor's press secretary, responded to the announcement by saying, "This is a stunt."

The governor's office responded similarly when the League of United Latin American Citizens, or LULAC, the nation's largest and oldest Latino civil rights organization, issued a Florida travel advisory a few days ago. And last month, LGBTQ civil rights group Equality Florida and the Florida Immigrant Coalition both warned people away from the state.

Who is the NAACP?

NAACP stands for National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and is the oldest and largest civil rights organization. It was founded in 1909 and advocates, agitates and litigates for the civil rights of Black Americans.

The Legal Defense Fund – also referred to as the NAACP-LDF - was founded in 1940 as a part of the NAACP, but now operates as a completely separate entity.

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Why did the NAACP issue a travel advisory?

The NAACP issued a travel advisory because it believes that under DeSantis, Florida has “engaged in an all-out attack on Black Americans, accurate Black history, voting rights, members of theLGBTQ+community, immigrants, women’s reproductive rights, and free speech, while simultaneously embracing a culture of fear, bullying, and intimidation by public officials.”

The civil rights group says these attacks include criminalizing protests, restricting the ability of educators to teach African-American history and engaging in a “war” against diversity and inclusion.

“On a seeming quest to silence African-American voices, the Governor and the State of Florida have shown that African Americans are not welcome in the State of Florida,” the advisory read. “Due to this sustained, blatant, relentless and systemic attack on democracy and civil rights, the NAACP hereby issues a travel advisory to African Americans, and other people of color regarding the hostility towards African Americans in Florida.”

Read the full travel advisory here.

What other Florida travel advisories have been issued?

Other recent restrictions by the DeSantis administration have been criticized by the Latino and LGBTQ communities.

LULAC's warning for potential Latino and Hispanic tourists or travelers cited a new state law that prohibits local governments from providing money to organizations that issue identification cards to people illegally in the country and invalidates out-of-state identification cards held by undocumented immigrants, among other restrictions.

“The actions taken by Governor DeSantis have created a shadow of fear within communities across the state,” said Lydia Medrano, a LULAC vice president for the Southeast region, in a statement.

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Anti-LGBTQ legislation has also been a large part of DeSantis' agenda. Last week, the governor signed bills targeting drag shows, transgender minors and the use of bathrooms and pronouns.

Equality Florida's warning cited DeSantis' work to limit discussion on LGBTQ topics in schools, ban books with gay characters from school libraries and the state's recent ban on gender-affirming care for minors.

“Taken in their totality, Florida’s slate of laws and policies targeting basic freedoms and rights pose a serious risk to the health and safety of those traveling to the state,” Equality Florida’s advisory said.

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What are the laws NAACP is talking about?

In its advisory, the NAACP says that under the leadership of DeSantis, Florida has “criminalized protests, restricted the ability of educators to teach African-American history, and engaged in a blatant war against diversity and inclusion.”

Here are the laws the NAACP specifically mentioned in its travel advisory:

Combatting Violence, Disorder and Looting and Law Enforcement Protection Act

DeSantis signed the Combatting Violence, Disorder and Looting and Law Enforcement Protection Act into law in 2021, which created new criminal offenses and increased penalties for those who target law enforcement and participate in violent or disorderly assemblies.

This law was ruled unconstitutional in a 90-page decision by U.S. District Judge Mark Walker in Tallahassee.

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HB 7 — Stop Wrongs against Our Kids and Employees Act(“Stop W.O.K.E. Act”) Florida

DeSantis signed HB 7 into law in 2022, and was meant to give businesses, employees, children and families tools to stand up against “discrimination and woke indoctrination.” The bill included provisions to prevent discriminatory instruction in the workplace and public schools and defines individual freedoms based on the fundamental truth that all individuals are equal before the law and have inalienable rights, and was meant to take on corporate “wokeness” and Critical Race Theory in schools in one law.

HB 543 — Constitutional Carry Act

DeSantis signed HB 543 into law in April. The new law strengthened Florida’s Second Amendment rights by allowing Floridians to carry concealed weapons without a government-issued permit. It will go into effect on July 1.

SB 266 — Higher education

In May, DeSantis signed HB 266, which prohibits institutions from spending federal or state dollars on “discriminatory” initiatives like diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs.

The bill prohibits programs, majors, minors, curriculum and general education core courses that violate Florida law regarding prohibited discrimination or that are based on theories that systemic racism, sexism, oppression and privilege are inherent in the institutions of the United States and were created to maintain social, political and economic inequities.

SB 7066 — Election administration

SB 7066 was signed into law in 2019 and addressed Amendment 4, which Florida voters passed in 2018, that restored voting rights for some convicted felons. The new law enumerated a uniform list of crimes that fall into the excluded categories and “confirmed” that Amendment 4 did not apply to a felon who had failed to complete all terms of their sentence.

Contributed: Associated Press and Douglas Soule, Thao Nguyen with the USA Today Network.