Over the past few days, unhinged attacks on Florida have grown both in number and absurdity. The NAACP issued a travel advisory for Florida,
claiming
the state is “openly hostile toward African Americans, people of color and L.G.B.T.Q.+ individuals.” Then, Human Rights Campaign jumped in,
stating
that “Governor DeSantis has weaponized his position to weave bigotry, hate, and discrimination into public law.” Hillary Clinton decided she couldn’t stay on the sideline for this one and
tweeted
, “Ron DeSantis’s ultra-MAGA Florida isn’t safe for people of color, LGBTQ+ people, or even multi-billion dollar corporations.”
The hyperbole is obvious, and
plenty
of people have already pointed that out. However, all these attacks also beg the question: By the numbers, is it actually worse and more dangerous to be LGBT or a person of color in Florida than in places like New York or California?
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The data would suggest absolutely not.
Let’s start with hate crimes. Using the most recent FBI
hate
crime
statistics
and
demographic
data
, we can calculate the number of hate crimes per capita in each state.
When it comes to hate crimes based on race, there are 14.19 racial hate crimes per million black residents in Florida. In New York, there are 54.63, and in California there are 232.78. And if you count all people of color in these calculations, not just black residents, the stats would be even more skewed in favor of Florida. The reason is straightforward: Even though Florida has the
fewest
white
people
out of these states, causing the denominator of Florida’s calculation to be the highest, they also have the fewest total hate crimes based on race, causing their numerator to be the lowest.
On hate crimes against
LGBT individuals
(hate crimes based on sexual orientation plus those based on gender identity), we can find much of the same story. In Florida, there are 30.47 anti-LGBT-motivated hate crimes per million LGBT residents, as compared with 97.48 in New York and 144.63 in California.
One could argue that the differences we see here are reflective of the fact that Florida is less urban than New York and California, but the accusation is that Florida is uniquely dangerous. By making this argument, one would be turning to explanations of why it is less dangerous, therefore assuming my argument is correct.
Social acceptance
is also not significantly lagging behind in Florida. 69% of people in Florida support same-sex marriage, which is not much different than the 72% who support it in California and the 75% who support it in New York.
Next, when we take a look at the economic conditions of black residents of Florida as opposed to their counterparts in the two largest liberal states, it is also clear where the advantage lies. Statistics from the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute
confirm
that black unemployment in Florida is 3.8%, while it is 8.3% in New York and 7.5% in California. Additionally, the median black income is $5,000 greater in
Florida
than it is in
New York
, although
California
has them both beat.
So the statistics are clear: When it comes to the things that actually affect the day-to-day lives of black and LGBT people, Florida is just a better place to be than the liberal meccas of New York and California. They are less likely to be the victim of a hate crime, more likely to be employed, and will likely have a higher income. The idea that Florida is a uniquely bad place and should be avoided is not based on anything concrete.
There is a reason
why Florida is experiencing a huge wave of in-migration while states such as Illinois, New York, and California are losing more people every year. Maybe liberal groups should stop throwing a fit over Florida and instead focus on fixing their own failing states.
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Jack Elbaum is a summer 2023 Washington Examiner fellow.
