The president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in Illinois, Teresa Haley, came under fire after a video conference with the organization’s leadership was leaked in which she He called the immigrants who have arrived in Chicago “savages” and rapists.
Earlier this fall, during a Zoom call with other state leaders, addressing NAACP state leadership on equity during that meeting, Haley, who is also president of the Springfield NAACP, described how newly arrived immigrants have received services in Illinois that she claimed had never been offered to blacks.
“Black people have been on the streets forever and no one cares because they say we are drug addicts.that we have mental health problems,” Haley complained.
“What’s happening in Chicago is a disgrace,” Haley says, “and it’s a crime.”
She and others explain how Chicago’s black community lacks resources; Meanwhile, they affirm that migrants receive more attention and care from state and federal authorities.
“Busloads are arriving and we see families on the street,” Haley says.
He noted that homeless blacks have not received the same help as immigrants because of stereotypes of blacks on the streets as “drug addicts” and people struggling with mental health issues.
However, her comments did not stop there, Haley insisted that, “These immigrants that come here have been raping people, they have also been breaking into houses. “They are like savages, they don’t speak the language and they look at us as if we were crazy.”
Former DuPage County NAACP President Patrick Watson said he was “horrified” over Haley’s comments and resigned from his position last Tuesday and asked Haley to follow in his footsteps.
“This was an organization that was founded to combat the very things she said. Those were things that were said about black people,” she said.
For his part, the Illinois Governor Jay Robert Pritzker, a Democrat, called Haley’s comments unacceptable.
“I hope she apologizes for the comments. I also think people should recognize that immigrants in this country are all around us,” Pritzker told media Wednesday.
“I also think people should recognize that immigrants in this country are all around us… Virtually all of us come here from somewhere else. So comments like that are comments on our entire society. “Extraordinarily inappropriate,” he said.
Chicago faces a humanitarian crisis due to the arrival of immigrants to the city, most of them sent by the governor of Texas, Republican Greg Abbott.
According to figures from the Mayor’s Office and civil aid organizations, of a total of 23,000 people who arrived fleeing violence and economic collapse in their countries of origin during the last year, there are still several thousand who live in tents and makeshift camps in front of police stations or at Chicago O’Hare Airport.
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