The NAACP issued a travel advisory for Florida on Saturday about Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis’ «aggressive attempts to erase Black history and restrict diversity, equity and inclusion programs» in schools in the state, the organization said in a statement. statement.
“Florida is openly hostile to African Americans, people of color, and LGBTQ+ people,” the NAACP said. «Before you travel to Florida, please understand that the State of Florida devalues and marginalizes the contributions and challenges faced by African Americans and other communities of color.»
The notice comes after the DeSantis administration in January blocked an Advanced Placement course in African American Studies from being offered in Florida high schools. In a letter to the College Board rejecting the course, the administration said, «As presented, the content of this course is inexplicably contrary to Florida law and significantly lacking in educational value.»
NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson said in a statement that «failing to teach an accurate portrayal of the horrors and inequities Black Americans have faced and continue to face is a disservice to students and a dereliction of compliance.» of duty for all».
Under DeSantis, “the state of Florida has become hostile to black Americans and is in direct conflict with the democratic ideals on which our union was founded,” Johnson added.
The College Board, a nonprofit organization that oversees the AP program across the country, moved to revise its framework for the curriculum after state officials said they rejected it due to six areas of concern – «Black Queer Studies», «Intersectionality», «Movement for Black Lives», «Black Feminist Literary Thought», «The Reparations Movement» and «Black Struggle in the 21st Century», and works by Kimberlé W. Crenshaw, bell hooks, Angela Davis and other black authors.
Although the College Board and many of the academic experts consulted on the framework insisted that they would not cave to political pressure and that the revisions had been long planned, the changes made concessions that directly address the concerns of conservatives. The revised syllabus removed the names of several black authors identified as problematic by Florida officials, substantially revised sections on intersectionality, and removed a section on the Movement for Black Lives.
The NAACP’s travel advisory for Florida was initially proposed to the Board of Directors by the organization’s Florida State Conference, which voted unanimously for her in March.
DeSantis, who is expected to soon launch a 2024 presidential campaign, has made education and other social issues a big focus of his administration. Last year, he enacted legislation called the «Stop WOKE Act,» which restricts the way race and gender are discussed in classrooms.
DeSantis’s office and the NAACP did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the travel advisory.
The Missouri chapter of the NAACP issued an advisory in 2017, urging blacks to “travel with extreme CAUTION” because “crimes based on race, gender, and color have a long history” in the state. The announcement came three years after the killing of Michael Brown, a black teenager, by a white police officer sparked days of riots in Ferguson.