Usually making a travel list is a good thing for a city, state or country — but Missouri is now on Fodor's 'No List' of places to avoid in 2018.
Among a list of destinations to avoid for reasons like high murder rates (Honduras), ethnic cleansing (Myanmar) and the environmental threats of tourism (Thailand), Missouri makes the list for apparent racism.
There's no question the state made national headlines last year.
Last June, the local chapter of the NAACP issued a travel advisory warning travelers of color to proceed with caution when visiting Missouri.
The advisory came after the passage of SB 43, a bill making discrimination cases harder to prove, and removing various workplace protections.
Missouri NAACP President Nimrod Chapel Jr. issued the advisory because of the bill, but also due to widespread racial profiling — a 2015 statewide report showed black drivers are about 3 times more likely than white drivers to be pulled over in Missouri.
Fodor's cited both the NAACP's travel advisory, and the passage of SB 43.
House Minority Leader Gail McCann Beatty, a Democrat from Kansas City, has said that repealing SB 43 is one of her highest priorities.
"Missouri had some of the strongest anti-discrimination laws, and we took them to some of the weakest," she said. "And that is incredibly unfortunate."
Another reason on the list? A hate crime that lead to the killing of an Indian-American man, which actually happened in Olathe, Kansas.
Andrea Tudhope is a reporter for KCUR 89.3. Email her at andreat@kcur.org.
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