The NAACP recently issued a travel advisory for the state of Missouri. It's the first-ever travel advisory issued by the civil rights group on a state or national level.
The organization said it issued the advisory because of a Missouri law that recently passed making it more difficult to prove unlawful discrimination, according to CNN.
The advisory was initially issued by the state conference in June, but gained national recognition at the NAACP's convention last week.
The advisory urges individuals to take "extreme caution" when traveling through Missouri.
The advisory details recent incidents in the state and cites a study saying African-Americans are 75 percent more likely than Caucasians to be stopped and searched.
"Individuals traveling in the state are advised to travel with extreme CAUTION," the advisory says. "Race, gender and color based crimes have a long history in Missouri."
The NAACP says the law that sparked the travel advisory, Senate Bill 43, would make it harder to hold people accountable for harassment and discrimination in the state, according to The Associated Press.
However, those in support of the new law argue that it will protect the state from frivolous lawsuits.
The American Civil Liberties Union issued travel advisories for Texas and Arizona after those states passed laws urging stronger enforcement of immigration violations, The Kansas City Star reported.
NAACP Conference President Rod Chapel Jr. told CNN that the Missouri travel advisory will remain in place until several changes are seen in the state, such as the repeal of the law that sparked it, a plan for addressing the disproportionate rate of police stops of African-Americans and changes in how the state handles hate crimes.
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