Missouri NAACP president wants travel advisory lifted, says conditions in state must change

The NAACP recommends against traveling to Missouri, and the man at the helm of the NAACP�s Missouri State Conference wants to see that recommendation lifted, but underscores the need for change in Missouri first.

Nimrod �Rod� Chapel Jr., president of the NAACP�s Missouri State Conference, spoke Monday at the Rotary Club of Cape Girardeau�s regular meeting.

Chapel noted the travel advisory was not the outcome he would have hoped for when he first spoke out against Senate Bill 43, signed into law in July by Gov. Eric Greitens.

�For more people than it doesn�t, it brings us back to Jim Crow status in America,� Chapel said of the bill, referring to a time in America�s history when discrimination based on skin color was allowed by law.

SB 43 �legalizes individual discrimination and harassment in Missouri and prevents individuals from protecting themselves from discrimination, harassment and retaliation in Missouri courts,� according to a July 2017 statement by the NAACP Missouri State Conference office in Jefferson City.

SB 43 tightened the standard for which an employer can be sued for discrimination, stating it must be proven discrimination is the �motivating factor,� meaning �the employee�s protected classification actually played a role in the adverse action or decision and had a determinative influence on the adverse decision or action,� according to the bill summary. Under the previous statutes, Missouri workers only needed to prove their protected status was a �contributing factor� in an adverse decision or action.

Incidents against marginalized people in Missouri in 2017 also contributed to the advisory, Chapel said.

As examples, he cited the death of a black tourist jailed in Missouri and, near Kansas City, the shooting of two men the shooter believed to be Muslim.

Amid these concerns, Missouri also landed on Fodor�s No List 2018, which also includes sites such as Myanmar and Honduras.

Inconsistent application of laws and legal procedures in Missouri is another contributing factor, Chapel said.

People of color are more likely to get pulled over, he said, and while he said a person doing wrong is doing wrong, if a person is just going about his or her business and is stopped, resentment can build. That creates problems for law-enforcement officials, Chapel said, and potentially complicates other interactions.

But, he added, his overall message is, Missourians should work together to move forward � as the NAACP�s Missouri chapter�s motto urges.

After the meeting, Chapel said the NAACP movement in Cape Girardeau is growing, and he�s encouraged to see that. Chapel said he hopes more people will think about attending a meeting.

�The main point is, don�t be complicit,� Chapel said.

Chapel likened the current situation in Missouri to a playground with a bully. If no one confronts a bully, everyone loses, Chapel said.

�NAACP is not a black organization,� Chapel added. �It�s for everybody.�

Since we all benefit when any one group benefits from increased fairness and access, Chapel said, �shouldn�t we all be part of the process?�

Chapel stressed the importance of contacting government representatives to help eliminate or at least rebuff some of the current injustices. Some Missouri representatives have made efforts to get SB 43 repealed, he said, and that is encouraging, but �we need voices.�

mniederkorn@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3630