Fed Up Canadian
The NAACP (National Association For The Advancement Of Colored People) distinguished itself this weekend by issuing a travel advisory, i.e., a warning, for people traveling to Florida. Fair enough you might think, as there are many dangers in having too much of a good time in hot weather. But instead of reminders to pack some sunscreen, the NAACP had something else in mind: “Florida is openly hostile toward African Americans, people of color and LGBTQ+ individuals.”
At first glance this would appear a silly outlier, but the NAACP is actually not the first organisation to issue an advisory about travel to Florida; in fact it piggybacked on a couple of other activist organizations –LULAC (League of United Latin American Citizens) and Equality Florida. LULAC’s advisory concerned Hispanics (both legal and illegal), while Equality Florida only referenced LGBTQ+ people.
Florida admittedly has quite a few dangers for the unwary. But gators sunning themselves on golf courses do not restrict their attacks to minorities. And hurricanes during the summer months (now thankfully more infrequent due to climate change) do not blow onshore as soon as they see a Pride parade. The dangers are coming from the humans – Republicans, especially Ron DeSantis! And this in the week that DeSantis will announce his candidacy for the Presidency. Quite the astonishing coincidence.
