NPR reported on a warning issued by the nation’s oldest civil rights organization, the NAACP. Travelers should avoid Florida, where there is a pervasive air of bigotry and easy access to guns. The warning nearly coincided with Ron DeSantis’ declaration of his campaign, on a media platform with billionaire Elon Musk. DeSantis will tout his record of stern opposition to migrants, gays, drag queens, transgender people, Black history, and his unwavering support for censorship and guns.
ORLANDO, Fla. — The NAACP over the weekend issued a travel advisory for Florida, joining two other civil rights groups in warning potential tourists that recent laws and policies championed by Gov. Ron DeSantis and Florida lawmakers are “openly hostile toward African Americans, people of color and LGBTQ+ individuals.”
The NAACP, long an advocate for Black Americans, joined the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), a Latino civil rights organization, and Equality Florida, a gay rights advocacy group, in issuing travel advisories for the Sunshine State, where tourism is one of the state’s largest job sectors.
The warning approved Saturday by the NAACP’s board of directors tells tourists that, before traveling to Florida, they should understand the state of Florida “devalues and marginalizes the contributions of, and the challenges faced by African Americans and other communities of color.”
An email was sent Sunday morning to DeSantis’ office seeking comment. The Republican governor is expected to announce a run for the GOP presidential nomination this week.
Florida is one of the most popular states in the U.S. for tourists, and tourism is one of its biggest industries. More than 137.5 million tourists visited Florida last year, marking a return to pre-pandemic levels, according to Visit Florida, the state’s tourism promotion agency. Tourism supports 1.6 million full-time and part-time jobs, and visitors spent $98.8 billion in Florida in 2019, the last year figures are available.
DeSantis’s efforts to exclude migrants may hurt Florida more than the boycott. Will the tourism industry have the staff it needs for hotels and restaurants? Will the agricultural industry have enough laborers to pick crops?
DeSantis’s war on teaching accurate, factual history about American history, his demands for book banning, and his support for vouchers for every student in the state, even those already in private schools, degrades education and intelligence in Florida.
DeSantis is running on a platform of hate, bigotry, and disunity. Let’s see how that plays.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
An Indian-American family was interviewed on the network news yesterday about why they moved from N.J. to Florida. They gave two answers, weather and lower taxes.
Lower taxes- they get what they deserve. If businesses like Disney weren’t footing the tax bill, the family would see, personally, the old Wild West days re-enacted.
While lower taxes may be true, Floridians pay a whole lot more in other ways. DeSantis is in the pocket of Florida Power and Light where the rates are very high and Big Insurance. Lots of people are getting priced out of homeowner’s insurance. My policy went up 57%, and we have never made a claim. Many insurers will not write policies in the state, and some home owners cannot even find a company that will write them a policy. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/may/03/ron-desantis-insurance-industry-donors-florida-governor
RT, that’s the DeSantis con.
Keep everyone focused on drag queens and trans kids so they won’t notice the increase in cost of insurance or utilities.
Florida’s auto insurance rates are also among the highest as well.https://www.cbsnews.com/miami/news/florida-sees-biggest-jump-in-car-insurance-rates/
You obviously know nothing about how actuaries determine rates for property insurance. Florida inevitably has high premiums because when hurricanes strike there the financial costs – the total dollar amount of claims – are incredibly high. Premiums are assessed across a large geographic area, not for individual claims history. That has nothing to do with politics or who is Governor.
Of course, the cost of insuring Florida homes has nothing whatsoever to do with climate change, which is, as Glorious Leader Who Shines More Orange Than Does the Sun has explained is a “hoax.”
Of course, rates are adjusted according risk. In addition, DeSantis and his cronies contributed to high rates mentioned in ‘The Guardian’ by freezing out smaller companies and reducing competition.
“Evidence is mounting that big insurance has blocked proposals that would have lowered costs for consumers,” it continues. “A 2022 proposal by state senator Jeff Brandes claimed to reduce insurance and save Floridians ‘$750 million to $1 billion a year’ by allowing smaller insurance companies to access the catastrophic reinsurance fund. The insurance-heavy business lobby reportedly blocked the plan.”
Regarding actuaries, insurance claims or anything else – this governor has (like others in world history) control of the legislature, the judiciary, law enforcement, the universities, and the schools – – so he can do anything he wants on anything (even on insurance rates)
All the “yeh, buts” in the world will not justify this person’s hurtful, oppressive tactics nor will they excuse him for doing nothing when something is needed
Were they asked if they feared living in Florida, given that they’re people of color?
Here’s another reason. One person!
https://crooksandliars.com/2023/05/inauguration-poem-removed-miami-school
proizvol. n. Russian. Arbitrariness. In particular, the random, capricious, arbitrary use of state power, authority, and violence, done to generate fear as an instrument of command and control; state bullying or terror
This is how Fascism works, folks.
Now we have a terrorist state inside the U.S. will wonders never cease.
Capital ‘W’ on the word ‘will’ up there. It’s getting difficult to read and edit my comments when I’m on the iPad I purchased in back in 1837. Much easier on my newer laptop or phone. Should I buy a new iPad? Nope. Better to buy paper books instead with the money.
Of course, even on my phone, I still make mistakes I would never make with a pen. Haha. I should buy a quill and write like Jefferson or Adams.
Quills are cheaper than iPads but lack the access to the internet.
I agree that Florida has become a dangerous place for many.
And DeSantis had the gall to claim he encourages dialogue on issues.
You have to wonder what DeSantis perceives as his end game. No tourists to have fun and spend money, guns crazy enjoying their liberties, no immigrants to do the work of harvesting food and construction.
He thinks he can win the presidency by being more bigoted than Trump. Tourists will still come to Florida for sun and beaches. Gun deaths will increase. No immigrants for dirty work on farms, in hotels and restaurants.
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2023/05/ron-desantis-autocracy/