BLACK LIVES MATTER
NAACP’s Florida Travel Advisory: What Is It Good For?
The formal statement issued to the Sunshine State has left many African Americans feeling defeated
Being a Black person from the South, you get to see America’s growing pains up close and personal. Since the early days, the southern states have been characterized as the cornerstone of slavery and anti-black racism in America. Research has even confirmed that an environment once heavily dependent on slavery can have an immense impact on unconscious racism targeting African Americans. Undoubtedly, the scourge of racism can be felt in every corner of America and throughout the world community. Nevertheless, the South has always been the epicenter of our nation’s apartheid. Black roots run deep. Southern Black roots run deeper.
The race riots of the early 1900s created a turbulent environment for Black citizens marked by a myriad of racial terror lynchings and damage to personal and business properties. White people who supported Black businesses were also unjustly targeted, and numerous Black families were forced to move with nothing but overwhelming sorrow and the sting of setbacks. The Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921, which left 35 city blocks of Black Wallstreet destroyed, is a prime example.
