Florida loses another multi-million dollar event over 'racist' DeSantis policies
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' "war on woke" has cost the state another event that would have generated millions of dollars for the local economy.
Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., the oldest Black fraternity in the country, is moving its 2025 conference from Orlando due to the 2024 Republican presidential hopeful's "harmful, racist, and insensitive policies against the Black community," reported the Tallahassee Democrat.
"Although we are moving our convention from Florida, Alpha Phi Alpha will continue to support the strong advocacy of Alpha Brothers and other advocates fighting against the continued assault on our communities in Florida by Governor Ron DeSantis," said general president Dr. Willis L. Lonzer III in a press release.
The event was expected to generate $4.6 million, according to the intercollegiate fraternity whose membership historical figures such as Martin Luther King, Jr., Thurgood Marshall and Adam Clayton Powell.
Alpha Phi Alpha joins other national Black organizations that have moved events or denounced the governor's policies, including the recent approval of state education standards for history that downplays Florida's role in slavery and racist oppression, including a directive to teach students that enslaved people learned valuable skills they could use for personal benefit.
Vice President Kamala Harris also spoke out against the new curriculum, but DeSantis accused her and other Democrats of lying to cover for "their agenda of indoctrinating students and pushing sexual topics onto children."
Another Black fraternal organization, Kappa Alpha Psi, denounced the curriculum the same day it was announced as "insensitive, discriminatory, and racist," and the National Society of Black Engineers will relocate its 2024 conference from Orlando.
The NAACP issued a travel advisory for Florida in May, saying the state under DeSantis was "openly hostile" to Black Americans.
