Illinois NAACP President Apologizes, Then Blames AI Deepfake, After Referring To Immigrants As "Savages"
Ever since the Biden administration began bussing thousands of migrants to Chicago, the city's black community has been less-than enthusiastic about their new neighbors.
Photos captured from the event pic.twitter.com/mp3946xI3L
— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) May 11, 2023
"All of a sudden we have deep pockets for people who don't pay taxes," said one resident during a May town hall. "I understand helping people, but you start with your own home."
"Savages, Rapists, Burglars"
In today's episode of the left eating its own - meet Chicago NAACP President Teresa Haley, who took things one step further in a leaked Zoom call from October, in which she likened immigrants to "savages, rapists and burglars."
"But these immigrants come over here, they've been rapin' people. They've been breaking into homes. They're like savages as well. They don't speak the language, and they look at us like we're crazy because we were the only people in America who were brought over here against our will, and were slaves.
"I'm tryin' not to be a ni**a but you know I'm pro-black, so, it's all about us, people. NAACP - what do those letters mean to you?"
"Springfield, Peoria, Bloomington, Kankakee, just get ready if you declared yourself to be a safe haven or a safe place for immigrants to come, because they are shopping around, and the busloads are coming," she said during a different segment of the tape.
"Black people have been on the streets forever and ever, and nobody cares," while the government is rushing to provide housing and other services to immigrants, she said.
Haley's comments drew harsh rebuke from Gov. JB Pritzker.
"Reprehensible remarks, I would hope that she would apologize for the remarks. I also think that people should recognize that immigrants to this country are all around us," he said.
Haley did apologize - but then after she was tracked down on vacation in Dubai by Chicago ABC station WLS-TV, she suggested it was a deepfake, saying "With AI, anything is possible."
When we tried to get a comment from Haley earlier this week she told @ABC7Chicago by phone "with AI (artificial intelligence), anything is possible."
— Rob Elgas (@RobElgasABC7) December 15, 2023
Here's @craigrwall full report from Tuesday, including the comments Haley made on video: https://t.co/b43d21ApOz https://t.co/os47GxjwQv
Haley's comments sparked the resignation of Patrick Watson, who until recently was the president of the DuPage County branch of the NAACP.
"I think she should absolutely resign. I think she's unfit to be the president, the state president of the NAACP, someone that has that kind of sentiment and that kind of thought against migrant communities," he said.
"Taken out of context"
And of course, the new branch president, Michael Childress, says Haley's comments were 'taken out of context,' adding "These comments are not indicative of what the NAACP stands for. But again, I'm not going to speak on behalf of Teresa Haley and say she should or shouldn't resign or things like that."
As the Epoch Times notes further;
Homelessness Crisis
Chicago’s illegal immigrants are eligible to receive up to $9,000 in rental assistance under a newly introduced state-run program, which also provides funding to help furnish homes.
Speaking to The Daily Beast Wednesday, Mr. Watson said the meeting between Ms. Haley and other NAACP state leaders took place on Oct. 26.
"The comments came up when some of the Chicago-based presidents started to talk about the migrant crisis, the funding that was going into neighborhoods, and they had differing opinions from my own. It's OK to have differing opinions," Mr. Watson said.
"They had different opinions about some of the resources that were going to the community, that resources weren't going towards individuals within the community, even though those resources are coming from different sources… That's OK to have a different opinion. But President Haley engaged in what I would call absolute hate speech."
Mr. Watson has resigned from the NAACP in protest of Ms. Haley's comments, he told the publication, adding that he believes Ms. Haley should also step down.
Calls to Step Down
"We live with the horror of persons being shot, shot at, exploited, shunned, burned out of houses and homes, and murdered due to being immigrants, migrants, asylum seekers, refugees, being Black, surviving being Black and male in hostile environments," he said.As well as being the president of the Illinois chapter of the NAACP, Ms. Haley runs a company that provides training programs to help individuals grow personally and professionally, according to its website.
Ms. Haley became the first female president of the Illinois NAACP State Conference in 2015 and is also serving her sixth consecutive term as president of the Springfield Branch NAAC, according to the biography.