Throughout its 108 year history, the NAACP has seen it all — until now!
Racism
For the first time ever, the NAACP has issued an extremely powerful message to all people of color who wish to travel through the State of Missouri: Go at your own risk. For an organization that has seen lynchings, bombings, riots, water cannons, and more, the warning is absolutely unprecedented.
The local Missouri chapter of the NAACP first issued the travel advisory in June, however, the national office adopted it soon thereafter once it discovered the magnitude of discrimination and racial attacks regularly occurring throughout the state.
“Individuals traveling in the state are advised to travel with extreme CAUTION,” the advisory warns. “Race, gender and color based crimes have a long history in Missouri.”
The advisory was issued after the State of Missouri passed a law virtually allowing legal discrimination. Senate Bill 43 now makes it nearly impossible for employees to file bias lawsuits based on race or gender class. Or, in other words: if you’re a minority and you wish to file a lawsuit because you felt discriminated against, then too bad.
The bill was passed in June and Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens signed it into law soon after.
The NAACP travel advisory also listed examples of “looming danger” in the state, including racial incidents against black students at the University of Missouri, as well as the state attorney general’s annual report which found black drivers were being stopped and detained by police at a 75% higher rate than white drivers.
Racism
As part of its travel advisory, the historic civil rights organization discussed a troubling situation from earlier this year involving 28-year-old Tory Sanders, a black man from Tennessee, who took a wrong turn while traveling. Despite doing nothing wrong and never being accused of any crime, Sanders was found dead inside a southeast Missouri jail. Police offered no explanation.
“How do you come to Missouri, run out of gas and find yourself dead in a jail cell when you haven’t broken any laws?” asked Rod Chapel, president of the Missouri NAACP.
“You have violations of civil rights that are happening to people. They’re being pulled over because of their skin color, they’re being beaten up or killed,” Chapel added. “We are hearing complaints at a rate we haven’t heard before.”
Traditionally, travel advisories are issued by the US State Department to warn against countries involved in political unrest, terrorist attacks, or increased health risks. So, for the NAACP to issue such a warning only underscores the severity and urgency of the statewide situation.
The NAACP is not telling minorities to not go to Missouri. Instead, it is warning travelers of color to remain vigilant and be aware of potential risks.
“People should tell their relatives if they have to travel through the state, they need to be aware,” Chapel said. “Warn your families, co-workers, and anyone visiting Missouri to beware of the safety concerns with travel in Missouri.”
He then added one final caveat.
“They should [also] have bail money. You never know.”
DJ, thanks for posting about this. I had caught a glimpse of the story the other day – and meant to research the details – but for some reason never got around to checking into it further.
What a sad *state* of affairs (pun intended). Hard to believe that, in 2017, WE are still having to fight some of the same OLD horrific battles. Still having to fight for Our lives.
And regarding the death of Tony Sanders:
There’s a related story concerning the young sheriff of the jail where Tony was taken, “in the small southeast Missouri town of Charleston, the county seat of Mississippi County.” And suffice it to say – the story is a bit of a doozy..