The St. Louis chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) asked the national organization to roll back its travel advisory to Missouri Thursday, saying it would hurt the black people living in the state.
The St. Louis County president, Esther Haywood, said the NAACP’s travel advisory would be economically harmful to the very people it’s supposed to help, according to a statement.
“The people hurt by the travel advisory are the members of the NAACP community who work across our state in hospitality industry jobs and who have played no role in the legislation,” Haywood said. “We suggest that if the NAACP does not rescind their advisory immediately, then they should add it to the other 38 states, which all already have this standard for monitoring discrimination in place.”
The NAACP officially released its travel advisory Wednesday after national delegates voted on it last week. The advisory warns black people to use “extreme caution” when going to Missouri because of discrimination and other incidents, the advisory says.
“Individuals traveling in the state are advised to travel with extreme CAUTION. Race, gender and color based crimes have a long history in Missouri,” the advisory said.
The group decided to release it after the Missouri state government passed Senate Bill 43, which forces people who file job-related discrimination lawsuits to prove that discrimination was the reason they were fired.
“Our ongoing issues of racial profiling, discrimination, harassment and excess violence towards people of color have been further exacerbated by the passage and signing of (Senate Bill) 43,” Cheryl Clay, Springfield’s NAACP president, said in a statement to the News-Leader.
The NAACP did not return The Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment in time for publication.
Follow Amber on Twitter
Send tips to amber@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.
All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.