The NAACP has issued an advisory warning travelers of the dangers of travel to Missouri in response to the passage of the “Jim Crow Bill,” SB 43.
According to CBS News, the new bill changes the definition of discrimination claims in Missouri. Under previous law, travelers would be able to file a discrimination claim if race, religion or gender discrimination are a “contributing” factor to discrimination. The new legislation requires victims of discrimination to prove that discrimination was a “motivating” factor, which the NAACP argues is difficult to do.
“You would think that the best evidence would be like, a memo,” Nimrod Chapel Jr., president of the NAACP in Missouri, tells CBS News. “’We discriminated against so-and-so because of who they are.’ Nobody writes memos, or when they do it is so rare, and then getting that kind of evidence can be very, very difficult.”
The state of Missouri contends that the “motivating standard” is currently used by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
The travel advisory also cites several recent examples of violence and discrimination in Missouri, including a man who died in a jail cell after running out of gas in the state despite never being arrested.
The travel advisory is in effect until at least August 28, 2017, the NAACP said.
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