A black Florida businessman has ridiculed the NAACP’s “travel advisory” issued last week against his state, accusing the organization of wanting to raise funds by jumping on the “BLM sauce bandwagon.”
On May 20, the NAACP warned that Florida, under its Republican governor and presidential candidate, Ron DeSantis, was “openly hostile to African Americans.”
The backlash was immediate, with many pointing out that top NAACP leaders, including their president, live in the state.
On Friday, financier Mike Hill, who is also part of an initiative to promote black Americans called Project 21, said the NAACP warning was absurd and a brazen publicity stunt.
“I would tell black people who saw this notice not to come to Florida and just ignore it,” said Hill, owner of an independent insurance and financial services agency in Pensacola.
Hill told Fox News: ‘I believe they see the amount of tens of millions of dollars that Black Lives Matter has been able to raise from the leftist agenda, and so they want some of that sauce.
“I think it was more of a publicity stunt. It was a fundraising attempt more than anything.
Mike Hill, owner of an insurance and financial company in Pensacola, Florida, said he believed the NAACP’s advice would backfire, showing the organization was “irrelevant”.
Nikki Whiting, the press secretary for the Florida Department of Health, responded to the NAACP advisory by reminding the organization that Joseph Ladapo, the state’s surgeon general, is black.
The NAACP issued this travel advisory warning African Americans not to travel to Florida, which it calls ‘hostile’
Florida Republicans are leading the backlash against the warning, which was issued despite the fact that the civil rights group’s own president lives there and council members frequent its beaches on vacation.
Leon W. Russell, 73, lived in Florida for his adult life after growing up in Virginia.
Today, he lives in a two-bedroom house in North Tampa.
Karen B. Towns, NAACP co-chair and board member, also likes to vacation in Clearwater.
Despite their ties to the Sun State, they joined the organization to warn other African Americans not to travel there.
Russell, however, joined calls for African Americans to boycott the state.
Florida Republican Party chairman Christian Ziegler is now offering to help Russell move to another state.
“The PRESIDENT of the NAACP lives in Tampa, FL! True leadership is being willing to do what you ask others to do…it’s time to step up and MOVE.
“If you think our state is that bad, the Florida GOP will help you with moving costs.”
Leon Russell, the president of the NAACP, lives in Tampa, Florida
NAACP Co-Chair and Board Member Karen B. Towns Enjoys Vacationing in Clearwater
Leon W. Russell, 73, has lived in Florida his entire adult life after growing up in Virginia. Today, he lives in a two-bedroom house in North Tampa.
Hill said the position of Russell and his team was ridiculous, singling Russell out of particular opprobrium.
‘The irony that he’s lived here most of his adult life, actually witnessed a thousand people a day come to Florida for the opportunity here – and that he would still issue a statement saying not to come here because of the racist attitudes that exist in Florida,” Hill said.
And he said he believed the NAACP’s advice would backfire, showing the organization was “irrelevant.”
“I don’t think that will deter anyone from coming to Florida,” he said.
“If anything, I think it’s going to backfire on the NAACP and show how useless they’ve become as an organization.”
The travel advisory claims that DeSantis is trying to “erase” black history by eradicating CRT from schools.
DeSantis said it was ridiculous, calling it Wednesday night a “political stunt.”
“To say that Florida is not safe is a total joke,” he told Elon Musk at the launch of his campaign.
