{"id":17265,"date":"2023-08-29T13:00:56","date_gmt":"2023-08-29T18:00:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/?p=17265"},"modified":"2023-08-29T13:00:59","modified_gmt":"2023-08-29T18:00:59","slug":"florida-governor-ron-desantis-faces-black-leaders-anger-after-racist-killings-in-jacksonville","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/?p=17265","title":{"rendered":"Florida Governor Ron DeSantis faces Black leaders\u2019 anger after racist killings in Jacksonville"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) \u2014 Ron DeSantis scoffed when the NAACP issued a travel advisory this spring<\/u><\/a> warning Black people to use \u201cextreme care\u201d if traveling to Florida.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The leading civil rights group argued that the state\u2019s loose gun laws and the Republican governor\u2019s \u201canti-woke\u201d campaign to deny the existence of systemic racism created a culture of \u201copen hostility towards African Americans and people of color.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just three months later, DeSantis is leading his state through the aftermath of a racist attack that left three African Americans dead<\/u><\/a>. Black leaders in Florida \u2014 and across the nation \u2014 say they\u2019re outraged by his actions and rhetoric ahead of the shooting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGov. DeSantis has created and pushed a narrative of division and hate that is anti-Black,\u201d said Rev. Jeffrey Rumlin, pastor of The Dayspring Church in Jacksonville, where three Black people were gunned down at a Dollar General store over the weekend by a white man with a swastika emblazoned on his assault rifle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rumlin criticized DeSantis for not explicitly describing the killer as a racist at a Sunday vigil in Jacksonville. DeSantis was booed at the vigil<\/u><\/a>, where he called the shooter \u201ca major-league scumbag\u201d and said, \u201cWe are not going to let people be targeted based on their race.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>The Florida governor, also responding this week to a tropical storm<\/u><\/a> bearing down on much of his state, has confronted multiple challenges on race since launching his presidential campaign. He has been criticized by Republican rivals on Florida\u2019s new education standards on slavery<\/u><\/a> while losing ground against former President Donald Trump, the front-runner in the GOP primary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ever defiant, DeSantis\u2019 team rejected suggestions that he did not adequately condemn the weekend shooting and has more broadly ignored the concerns of the state\u2019s African American community. The Republican governor scored an overwhelming reelection<\/u><\/a> last fall that included flipping the traditional Democratic stronghold of Miami-Dade County, which has a majority Latino population. He made modest gains<\/u><\/a> among Black voters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis shooting was a terrible tragedy, and it is reprehensible that The Associated Press has decided to collect and amplify false talking points as \u2018reporting\u2019 on this horrific event,\u201d said DeSantis campaign spokesman Bryan Griffin. \u201cRon DeSantis has condemned these racially motivated murders repeatedly in the strongest language possible. \u2026 He will not tolerate racial hatred or violence in Florida, and we reject your politicization of this horrible event.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The tragedy cast a shadow across the Republican presidential campaign this week as candidates faced uncomfortable questions about the party\u2019s increasing appeal among white supremacists<\/u><\/a> and the GOP\u2019s fight against so-called \u201cwoke\u201d policies on race and gender. While DeSantis has not mentioned his \u201cwar on woke\u201d in recent days, cultural issues have been the centerpiece of his campaign.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Virtually all of the candidates have embraced a similar message aimed at appealing to the GOP\u2019s white conservative base by downplaying the existence of racism in America<\/u><\/a> and restricting LGBTQ rights<\/u><\/a>. To win the general election next fall, the Republican nominee will likely need to appeal to a much more diverse group of voters. But the primary fight won\u2019t be decided for several months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sen. Tim Scott, one of three Black Republicans running for president, called on his party to speak out against the latest tragedy as he campaigned in his home state of South Carolina.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think we should all be standing up and saying that any act of violence against someone very purely because of the color of your skin is terrible,\u201d he told reporters. \u201cWe saw three African Americans die because of the color of their skin over the weekend. That\u2019s devastating.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He avoided answering directly when asked if the Republican Party has done enough to denounce white supremacist violence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe question is, have humans done enough to talk about racism and discrimination and the use of violence? And I think that\u2019s the responsibility of every single American \u2014 the Republican Party, Democrat Party, no party affiliation,\u201d Scott said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a radio interview with conservative commentator Hugh Hewitt, former United Nations ambassador Nikki Haley said there was no clear explanation for such violence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of hate online with social media. We\u2019ve got a lot of mental health issues. And you combine that with the rhetoric that is happening in America of division and just being able to hide behind something on social media and getting angry, it causes for a bad cocktail,\u201d said Haley, who was serving as South Carolina\u2019s governor when a racist gunman attacked a Black church<\/u><\/a> and killed nine people. \u201cAnd when you get that, people die.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Haley, whose parents immigrated to South Carolina from India, declared in her presidential announcement speech that America is not a racist nation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Republicans have little political incentive to appeal to voters of color \u2014 in the primary phase of the presidential campaign, at least.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One-third of Americans (35%) say racism is \u201ca very big problem\u201d in the United States, according to a June poll from the Pew Research Center<\/u><\/a>. Just 14% of Republicans see racism as a very significant issue compared with 55% of Democrats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, one quarter of Republicans believe that being white hurts a person\u2019s ability to get ahead, according to an April study from the Pew Research Center<\/u><\/a>. Republicans are about as likely to say that being Black helps (33%) a person\u2019s ability to get ahead in the U.S. as to say it hurts (34%) their ability to advance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

African American leaders have decried what they call a pattern of \u201cpolicy violence\u201d<\/u><\/a> against people of color imposed by the DeSantis administration that reached a low point after the recent release of its public school curriculum on Black history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Florida State House Democratic Leader Fentrice Driskell argued DeSantis\u2019 policies on race combine to embolden racists and extremists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She pointed to the Republican governor\u2019s Stop-WOKE Act, which limits discussions of race in schools and businesses; his banning of diversity and equity inclusion at Florida colleges; and the newly approved Black history curriculum that suggests there were benefits to slavery. She also noted DeSantis\u2019 loosening of gun laws, including a new law that allows people to carry guns without a permit or training.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve given warnings \u2014 don\u2019t pass this legislation because it will only inflame tensions, don\u2019t pass this bad bill because it will promote vigilantism, don\u2019t do this because it will divide our communities,\u201d Driskell said. \u201cHe has courted support from the far right. He plays footsies with it. This rhetoric was always going to lead to violence.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Democratic Rep. Angie Nixon, who represents the district where the weekend murders took place, oscillated between angry shouts, tears and profanity as she condemned DeSantis in an interview.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe refuses to use the word Black. He refuses to call that man a racist. He calls him a scumbag. No!\u201d Nixon said. \u201cHe\u2019s tiptoeing around the true issue because he\u2019s worried that his poll numbers will drop with the base of voters that he has religiously went after.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DeSantis derided the NAACP\u2019s travel advisory as a \u201cpolitical stunt\u201d back in May when he launched his presidential campaign.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cClaiming that Florida is unsafe is a total farce,\u201d DeSantis said in a conversation with Elon Musk. \u201cI mean, are you kidding me? You look at cities around this country, they are awash in crime. In Florida, our crime rate is at a 50-year low.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Monday, NAACP President Derrick Johnson said DeSantis deserves real blame for the weekend shooting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat Gov. DeSantis has done is created an atmosphere for such tragedies to take place,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cThis is exactly why we issued the travel advisory.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

___ Peoples reported from New York. AP writers Linley Sanders in Washington; Meg Kinnard in Charleston, South Carolina; and Michelle L. Price in Indian Land, South Carolina, contributed to this report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Apnews<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) \u2014 Ron DeSantis scoffed when the NAACP issued a travel advisory this spring warning Black people to use \u201cextreme care\u201d if traveling to Florida. The leading civil rights group argued that the state\u2019s loose gun laws and the Republican governor\u2019s \u201canti-woke\u201d campaign to deny the existence of systemic racism created a culture of \u201copen […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":17266,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1152,1154],"tags":[1365,22007,1437,1842,1537],"class_list":["post-17265","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-humanrights","category-trending","tag-black","tag-black-leaders","tag-florida","tag-racism","tag-shootings"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17265","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=17265"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17265\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17267,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17265\/revisions\/17267"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/17266"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=17265"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=17265"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=17265"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}