The Black men’s Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. has announced it will move its 2025 general convention from Orlando in light of “racist” policies.
The fraternity announced the news Wednesday on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, citing “Governor DeSantis’ harmful, racist, and insensitive policies against the Black Community,” as the reason behind the decision.
Willis L. Lonzer III, the fraternity’s general president, told The Hill that last week’s controversy surrounding new education standards in the state became the tipping point in the fraternity’s decision.
“Governor DeSantis has continuously advocated for laws and policies that negatively impact Black people and other marginalized communities,” Lonzer said.
“We start first with the laws rejecting the teaching race and the cultural diversity of our nation. We can even talk about the bill that he supported, banning [diversity, equity and inclusion] initiatives in colleges and universities. But the final straw really was his advancement of this new curriculum standards released last week, suggesting enslaved people developed skills that could later be a personal benefit to them, which is absolutely absurd.”
“This is a stunt,” DeSantis’s office said in a statement to The Hill.
Florida’s new guidelines, approved last week, require lessons on race be taught in an “objective” manner that does not seek to “indoctrinate or persuade students to a particular point of view.”
One of the updated standards that received backlash requires instructors to teach that “slaves developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit.”
Another requires that students must learn about “acts of violence perpetrated against and by African Americans.” This includes massacres such as the Tulsa Race Massacre.
The new education standards were immediately met with backlash from Black leaders around the nation, including Vice President Harris, who blasted DeSantis in a speech in Jacksonville for “pushing propaganda” on children.
The latest set of guidelines follows the state’s decision earlier this year that prohibited an Advanced Placement African American studies course from running. At the time, the state said the class lacked educational value.
Alpha Phi Alpha was the fraternity of some of the most prominent Black leaders in America, and remains so today. Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., Paul Robeson, Whitney Young and Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall were all members of the fraternity.
Today, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D), Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) and Rep. Steven Horsford (D-Nev.), chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, are all members.
While a new location has not been decided upon just yet, Lonzer said the fraternity expects their decision will cost the greater Orlando area some $4.6 million in revenue.
“We will not spend our money where Black people and other marginalized communities are continuously harmed by policies at the highest level of government,” Lonzer said.
He added that other members of the Divine Nine — a group of nine historically Black fraternities and sororities — are all “aligned” on the significance of ensuring that all people are treated with respect.
But he also urged those in Florida to exercise their right to vote when the time comes.
“We have not forgotten our membership or the citizens of Florida,” Lonzer said. “We are committed to encouraging them to stay vigilant and to ensure that they are in the voting process. We will continue to make our voter education opportunities available as we funnel funds to the state of Florida to ensure that they can hold various forums and can have the appropriate conversations. When the time comes to vote, we will get them out to vote.”
–Updated on July 27 at 10:36 a.m.