


Former President Donald Trump famously said, “Everything woke turns to s***.” That profound piece of wisdom evidently holds true even for the most storied civil rights institutions in American history.
The NAACP is the latest once-venerable organization corrupted by partisanship and woke brain rot. It just issued a “travel advisory” warning black people to avoid the state of Florida that’s frankly so absurd it seems like parody.
SUPREME COURT PACKING JUST THE LATEST DEMOCRATIC EFFORT TO CONTROL THE COURT"Under the leadership of Governor Desantis, the state of Florida has become hostile to Black Americans and in direct conflict with the democratic ideals that our union was founded upon."
— NAACP (@NAACP) May 20, 2023
— NAACP President and CEO @DerrickNAACP
Take a stand with us. https://t.co/zsgLbNYL8t
"Florida is openly hostile toward African Americans, people of color and LGBTQ+ individuals,” the 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."
This argument rests on the misleading claim that Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) has sought to “ban African American history.” In reality, he pushed back on one new Advanced Placement course that was set to be introduced that was wildly biased, but African American history was going to remain a part of Florida’s regular core history curriculum. It also cites debatable issues fundamentally irrelevant to a race-based advisory, such as Florida’s policies on LGBT rights and abortion.
It further cites some of DeSantis’s policies that do touch on racial issues, such as the STOP Woke Act, which can be legitimately criticized. The nonpartisan Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, for example, has argued that this legislation limiting what can be taught in higher education violates the First Amendment — and it’s currently held up in court on those grounds. (So, it’s not currently in effect.) Yet, regardless, it’s not as if any of these policies would truly turn Florida into some hellscape that black people must avoid.
On the contrary, Florida is home to millions of black people living their lives just like anyone else. Some of them even explicitly support DeSantis!
Indeed, many black people are thriving in the Sunshine State. The Florida Chamber of Commerce says Florida is second in the nation for the most black-owned businesses, with more than 250,000 in existence and a combined payroll of $2.63 billion. Does that sound like some Jim Crow-esque racist hellscape to you?
Senior members of the NAACP’s leadership don’t seem too concerned about Florida’s “hostility” toward black people, at least so far as their personal lives are concerned. According to his active Twitter profile, Leon W. Russell, chairman of the NAACP's board, lives in Tampa. So, too, NAACP board Vice Chairwoman Karen Boykin-Towns vacationed in Florida as recently as April 2021.
Here's NAACP board Vice Chair Karen Boykin-Towns enjoying a lovely Florida vacation in April 2021.
— Matt Wolking (@MattWolking) May 22, 2023
Maybe she wants you to forgo your vacation so her next one will be less crowded? pic.twitter.com/4bB0Uf9sfs
“Florida for me but not for thee.”
— Jeremy Redfern (@JeremyRedfernFL) May 22, 2023
- @ChairmanNAACP, apparently. pic.twitter.com/Zpw3h3XIAC
Hmm … it’s almost like this “advisory” is partisan hyperbole and not rooted in any actual danger or hostility toward black people in Florida.
And it’s not the first time we’ve seen activist organizations launch partisan smear campaigns against the Sunshine State. Equality Florida recently issued a similar advisory that Florida was unsafe for LGBT people even though Florida is home to some of the biggest Pride celebrations in the country and has millions of residents who are gay and thriving.
This kind of partisan hyperventilation is not just absurd; it’s deeply self-defeating. Left-wing activist organizations are quickly turning into the boy who cried wolf. These days, they scream bloody murder all the time over relatively frivolous things. This means that when there are legitimate critiques to be made, the public will tune them out — and we’ll all be worse off for it.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINERBrad Polumbo ( @Brad_Polumbo ) is an independent journalist and the co-founder of BASEDPolitics .