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The NAACP, Travel Warnings, and Jim Crow Cards
On May 4, 2017, in Missouri, Tory Sanders, a 28-year-old black man, went to the police for psychiatric help. Sanders was taken to the county jail, where a mental health counselor recommended that he be hospitalized for observation.
Eight hours later, Sanders died in jail.
Sanders was beaten by police officers after an altercation. He was also jolted with a stun gun and pepper sprayed. Because Sanders died from “excited delirium,” the Attorney General of Missouri decided not to prosecute the cops involved.
The NAACP issued its very first travel advisory, warning people of color not to go to Missouri. A travel warning was a good way to expose this incident to the nation.
Except Sander’s death wasn’t the catalyst for the travel warning; it was Senate Bill 43.
The sponsors of Senate Bill 43 believed that discrimination plaintiffs in federal court and in the majority of other states are required to meet a higher burden of proof than plaintiffs in state courts in Missouri. Senate Bill 43 made it more difficult for terminated employees to demonstrate that they were the victims of racial discrimination.
Lawmakers said the bill was passed to reduce frivolous lawsuits.