NAACP DISGUSTED AND DISTURBED BY INFLAMMATORY AND RACIST COMMENTS TOWARDS THE BLACK MAYOR OF TALLAHASSEE AND THE ENTIRE BLACK COMMUNITY

~Using the term “Monkey” towards the black community is racist and beneath anyone running for Governor. ~

FORT LAUDERDALE — The NAACP Florida State Conference is disgusted and disturbed by a gubernatorial candidate’s inflammatory and racist comments directed at the Mayor of Tallahassee.

Less than 24 hours after Ronald DeSantis, the Trump-endorsed Republican nominee for Governor, won his primary, DeSantis immediately injected overt and crude racist language into the governor’s race.
DeSantis’ request to Florida voters not to “monkey this up,” in a Fox News interview this morning, could not possibly have been an accident. Comparisons to monkeys and apes are by far the best-known racist references to African Americans in our national folklore. This meme dates back to the mid-19th Century, and notably was deployed to attack the Scottsboro Boys in 1935. It continued into the 21st century with simian characterizations of President Obama and his family. Its only equal in racial semantics is the “n-word.”

To its credit, Fox News promptly apologized, declaring that it does not “condone this language.”
Adora Obi Nweze, President of the NAACP’s Florida State Conference and a member of the National NAACP Board of Directors, issued the following statement: “I call upon candidate DeSantis to apologize immediately to Mayor Gillum and to all African American voters in Florida for his gutter racist comments and I urge Mr. DeSantis to make clear to all Floridians that his words don’t reflect implicit racial bias. Florida is better than this. I urge all Floridians to tune out racist dog whistles and focus on issues from now to November. We will defeat hate in Florida.”
###

Founded in 1909, the NAACP is the nation’s oldest and largest nonpartisan civil rights organization. Its members throughout the United States and the world are the premier advocates for civil rights in their communities. In 1941, the NAACP Florida State Conference was formed as the 1st State Conference in the nation. For more information on the NAACP Florida State Conference, please visit www.FLNAACP.com or follow us on Twitter @FLNAACP.