The Blackest News Stories Of The Week: NAACP Travel Advisory, Reparations And More

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The Florida NAACP has requested a travel advisory due to recent policies and legislation targeting diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives in the state. The advisory aims to warn people, especially Black individuals, about the state’s increasingly racist environment. Among the bills that prompted the NAACP’s move is HB 999, which would ban certain courses on gender studies and race in higher education, leading to the elimination of majors such as women’s studies and any subject surrounding critical race theory. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis dismissed the travel advisory request as a “joke,” but the NAACP branch is standing by its decision to warn people about the state’s situation.

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A group of economists and policy experts met with the Reparations task force in California and estimated that compensating the descendants of Black enslaved people in the state would cost over $800 billion. In addition, the group recommended $1 million per older Black resident for health disparities, although this was not included in the $800 billion estimate. The task force also considered other recommendations, such as compensating for property unjustly taken by the government and establishing free wellness centers in Black communities.

During her weeklong tour of Africa, Vice President Kamala Harris has been engaging in serious political work, including the pledge of $100 million in aid from the U.S. to address economic and security concerns in Ghana. In addition to her political duties, Harris paid her respects to the ancestors who passed through Cape Coast Castle, where enslaved Africans were held in squalid dungeons before being sent off into slavery in the U.S. and elsewhere. Harris delivered a moving address and was visibly emotional during her visit.

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Republican officials often rely on dog-whistling to convey racist sentiments while maintaining plausible deniability. They use words like “thug” when discussing Black violence, but avoid using it when talking about white violence. Representative Gary Palmer from Alabama recently referred to public high schools in D.C. as “inmate factories,” suggesting a racial bias in his language.

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Republicans are politicians who navigate politics as part of their job, which includes drafting, endorsing, supporting, passing, and rejecting legislation based on political arguments. Whenever there is a mass shooting in America, the issue of guns and gun access are bound to come up because guns are the common denominator in every shooting. Florida GOP Rep. Byron Donalds urged people not to politicize the recent private school shooting in Nashville by talking about guns, but avoiding the gun discussion is also a political motive.