NAACP President Derrick Johnson doubled down on the organization’s travel warning about Florida during a Monday CNN appearance.
“Well, the governor has perfected the art of doing stunts to gain campaign contributions. Unfortunately, this will impact people’s lives,” Johnson told “CNN This Morning” co-host Sara Sidner, citing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, as a reason for the warning. “We should not use race or othering as a tool to weaponize against people, and unfortunately for a large percentage of Floridians, that’s what he has done.”
“Therefore, we are advising African Americans and others, that if you travel to Florida, beware that your life is not valued, that we have a political landscape that could cause harm as we prepare for the 2024 elections to right-size the political landscape in the state of Florida,” Johnson continued.
The NAACP issued the travel warning Saturday, citing DeSantis’ opposition to an Advanced Placement course that reportedly contained elements of critical race theory and so-called queer theory. The College Board announced an update to the course following Florida’s Jan. 12 rejection of the initial framework.
The contents of school curricula became a hot-button political issue in 2021 as parents protested the use of critical race theory, which holds that America is fundamentally racist, teaches people to view every social interaction and person in terms of race, and which seeks to hold groups of people accountable for the actions of their ancestors.
DeSantis also signed legislation to restrict teaching critical race theory, but a federal judge blocked the legislation in November.
Originally published by the Daily Caller News Foundation.
Have an opinion about this article? To sound off, please email [email protected] and we’ll consider publishing your edited remarks in our regular “We Hear You” feature. Remember to include the url or headline of the article plus your name and town and/or state.
