Bernice King, a lawyer, minister, and the youngest child of late civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., responded to Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) after he tweeted about the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and its travel advisory in Florida.
On Saturday (May 20), the NAACP released a statement and travel advisory in direct response to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ “aggressive attempts to erase Black history and to restrict diversity, equity, and inclusion programs in Florida schools.”
“This is bizarre. And utterly dishonest,” Cruz tweeted about the NAACP’s decision. “In the 1950s & 1960s, the NAACP did extraordinary good helping lead the civil rights movement. Today, Dr. King would be ashamed of how profoundly they’ve lost their way.”
King responded to Cruz with a photo of her father and a message about how she believes he would feel about the NAACP today and their fight against DeSantis’ “blatant war against principles of diversity and inclusion.”
“What my father would be deeply concerned about is the harmful, discriminatory legislation in Florida,” she wrote, effectively shutting him down. The cherry on top was the photo of MLK that looks like he’s judging Cruz right alongside his daughter.
Along with his stance against critical race theory, DeSantis signed the Stop WOKE Act, which restricts how schools and employers can address race, gender, and sexual identity. He also cut access to an African American studies AP course in area high schools and prohibited colleges from spending public funds on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs.
On Monday (May 22), NAACP President Derrick Johnson said it’s time for Floridians to vote DeSantis out. “We have to prepare for the next election, so we can get rid of him once and for all,” he said. “This othering that we have seen first by Trump, now by him, is not only un-American, it’s dangerous, and we have to right-size this landscape.”
Maybe Ted Cruz will see his constituents vote him out next.