In October, the NAACP may formally adopt an advisory warning that travelers to Missouri should exercise caution as their civil rights might not be assured. National delegates to the NAACP voted to recommend the travel advisory last week.
The Missouri NAACP issued a similar advisory after Missouri lawmakers adopted Senate Bill 43, which makes it harder for fired employees to win discrimination cases. The Missouri NAACP advocated strongly against adopting the law, calling it “nothing but Jim Crow.”
“If you’re a woman, a person who is over the age of 40, if you hold religious convictions, if you have a different nationality, skin color or suffer from some disability, the protections that we have enjoyed in terms of our civil rights are trying to be swept away,” Missouri NAACP President Nimrod “Rod” Chapel said in a video release prior to the passage of SB 43.
Gov. Eric Greitens signed the legislation, which modifies the Missouri Human Rights Act, into law on June 30.
Cheryl Clay, the president of the Springfield, Mo., NAACP, told the Springfield News-Leader that the travel advisory isn’t a boycott; it’s a warning and response to the legislation.
“Our ongoing issues of racial profiling, discrimination, harassment, and excess violence towards people of color have been further exacerbated by the passage and signing of (SB) 43,” she said.
The News-Leader doesn’t list any evidence of further profiling, discrimination, violence or harassment since Greitens signed the law a few days ago. Meanwhile, Chapel told the Associated Press the state organization will consider a full boycott.