‘Breeding ground for a lot of fascist and racist policies’: Group educates Black Florida voters, condemns ‘extremist legislation’
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (WFLA) — The non-partisan group Equal Ground stopped in Pinellas County Saturday, kicking off its voter education and mobilization tour.
“Florida has really been the incubator,” said Genesis Robinson, the group’s interim executive director. “It’s been the breeding ground for a lot of fascist and racist policies if we’re being honest. We are organizing our community to say enough is enough.”
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Equal Ground hopes to combat what it describes as “extremist legislation,” ensuring black Floridians understand their rights and how to make their voices heard in November.
“There are over 2 million Black voters in the state of Florida, and we want them to recognize their power,” Robinson explained. “We want them to recognize there’s power in their vote if their vote was not important or critical, the state and the powers that be wouldn’t be working so hard to take it away.”
Why rally in Florida?
Political analyst Tara Newsom said if the group’s goal is to get on the forefront of where voter suppression is, she said the Sunshine State is a good place to start.
“It is not a surprise to many marginalized voters that Florida is the heart of this,” she explained. “Basically what we have in Florida is this story, and the story is: if you don’t look like those in power, you are not invited to democracy.”
This comes as President Joe Biden prepares to visit Tampa Tuesday to denounce Florida’s six-week abortion ban.
His campaign said Biden’s choice to visit Florida is a strategic one.
“Joe Biden and the rest of the country are looking at Florida as a bellwether state, and we’re starting to shift away from the deep red that DeSantis ushered in into a much more purple,” Newsom explained. “This is what we expect when we go too far in one direction.”
“I think we’re going to be really watching the state of Florida to sort of be a litmus test for the rest of the country,” she continued.
To find out more about Equal Ground, click here.
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