NAACP’s chairman lives in Tampa despite ‘hostile’ travel advisory
“If you think our condition is that bad, we’ll help you move!” Backlash against NAACP travel advisory calling Florida ‘hostile’ towards African Americans as civil rights group president revealed to live in Tampa
- Leon W. Russell, 73, is the president of the NAACP – he lives in Tampa, Florida
- Yesterday, the NAACP issued a travel advisory warning African Americans not to visit Florida
NAACP President Leon W. Russell, 73, lives in Tampa
Florida Republicans are leading the backlash against the NAACP’s travel advisory that warns black Americans not to visit their state, despite the fact that the civil rights group’s own chairman lives there.
Leon W. Russell, 73, has lived in Florida all his adult life after growing up in Virginia. Today, he lives in a two-bedroom home in northern Tampa.
However, Russell yesterday joined calls for African Americans to boycott the state.
The travel advisory claims that Ron DeSantis is trying to “erase” black history by banning CRT in schools.
The stunning advice was released yesterday and has enraged Republicans of all races.
Among them is Florida GOP chairman Christian Ziegler, who is now offering to help Russell move to another state.
“The NAACP CHAIRMAN lives in Tampa, FLORIDA! True leadership is being willing to do what you ask others to do… time to get up and MOVE.
“If you think our state is that bad, the Florida GOP will help with the moving costs.”
Rep. Byron Donalds called the adviser “stupid,” “dumb,” and “political.”
“I don’t even know what the NAACP is talking about. This is silly, and it’s stupid. It’s political. It does not make any sense.
The NAACP issued this travel advisory to warn African Americans against traveling to Florida, which it says is “hostile”
“We have to be focused on making sure that people actually have a chance to achieve something, which Florida actually does and thrives much better than other states, let’s say New York or California or Washington State,” he said during a performance on Fox and Friends on Monday.
“We need to get past this stuff. We cannot use race to weaponize our politics and our media.
“It’s disgusting and it has to stop,” he said.
“The only hostility I feel is inflation hitting my wallet, because inflation is hostile.
“If the price of food goes up, the price of gas goes up, the fact that fentanyl is coming into every community because of Joe Biden… maybe the NAACP should focus on that. Because that’s hostile.’
“This is stupid, crazy…I don’t even know what they’re talking about”: Florida Rep. Byron Donalds said the advice was another attempt to weaponize race, but was unrelated to reality
Nikki Whiting, the press secretary for the Florida Department of Health, responded to the NAACP’s advice by reminding the organization that Joseph Ladapo, the state’s Surgeon General, is black
Senator Tim Scott did not directly address the NAACP or his adviser, but during his presidential campaign announcement, he said America was the land of “opportunity – not oppression.”
“We are not defined by the color of our skin. If someone tells you otherwise, you are a liar.
“I will be the president who destroys the liberal lie that America is a bad country. America is not a racist country.
“We need to stop canceling our founding fathers and start celebrating them for the geniuses they were.”
He also called for “less CRT” and “more ABCs” in schools.
Nikki Whiting, the press secretary for the Florida Department of Health, responded to the NAACP’s advice by reminding the organization that Joseph Ladapo, the state’s Surgeon General, is black.
Lavern Spicer, who runs in Florida’s 22nd district, shared a video from the Haitian Compass Festival that took place in Miami this weekend.
“The 25,000 black people at the Haitian Compass Festival last night certainly didn’t get the NAACP’s memo about how dangerous Florida is for black people!” she joked.