Illinois NAACP president faces calls to quit over conference call where she branded migrants ‘rapist savages’ who are taking resources from black and homeless people

A shocked colleague has called out a leading NAACP activist for hate speech after she labeled migrants as raping, burglarizing savages who don't speak English.

Teresa Haley complained to NAACP presidents in Illinois about the support Chicago authorities provided to the 26,000 migrants who have arrived in the city since August last year.

Haley, head of the NAACP state conference, also used the N-word and mocked transgender people during the video call recorded by former Du Bois County chapter chairman Patrick Watson.

“These immigrants coming here have raped people, they've broken into houses, they look like savages too,” she said.

“They don't speak the language and look at us like we're crazy.”

Haley suggested that 'AI' may have been used to manipulate her words when WLS-Ch7 reached them on holiday in Dubai, adding: 'With AI, anything is possible.'

But Watson said the comments were heard by everyone at the meeting.

“We've had immigrants shot at, we've had immigrants killed,” he added.

“We've had people get beat up because of their immigration status, and enough is enough, it's time to stand up and say no to hate.

“You can educate your people without belittling other people.”

Haley is a rising star in the organization and won the 2021 activist of the year award.

She is campaigning for a seat on the national board and received support from current DuPage County Board Chairman Michael Childress, who said she had his full support.

“These comments are not indicative of what the NAACP stands for, but I'm not going to speak for Teresa Haley and say she should or shouldn't resign or things like that,” he added.

Haley, who has a bachelor's degree in 'communications', runs a training and consultancy service and calls herself a 'dynamic speaker' on the website.

She told the meeting that migrants benefit from this at the expense of black people.

“We were the only people in America brought here against our will and we are slaves, sold into slavery,” she said.

“But unlike everyone else who comes here, we're so nice, we're so friendly, you need some clothes, you need a place to stay, we're going to make it happen.”

Watson said she also complained about being asked to use transgender pronouns which she described as “she, them, it.”

“What the hell is that?” she asked.

When Watson protested her comments, she told him, “So brother, I feel your pain, I'm not trying to be a ******, but you know I'm pro-black.”

Illinois Governor JB Pritzker called the comments “reprehensible” and “extremely inappropriate.”

“I hope she apologizes for the comments,” he added.

“I also think people need to recognize that immigrants in this country are all around us.

'Almost all of us came from somewhere else.

'So these kinds of comments are comments on our entire society.'

Founded in 1909 as the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the NAACP describes its mission as support for “all marginalized people.”

But Carla Jackson-Campbell, a senior NAACP executive, said the group was “still evaluating all information and waiting for more details.”

“Our mission is and always will be to achieve equality, political rights and social inclusion by advancing the needs of Black people,” she added.

“President Haley embraces the mission of our beloved NAACP.”

Black residents made up most of the protesters who stormed a Chicago City Council meeting last month where there was a debate over whether the city should retain sanctuary city status.

And in September, a group of Black homeowners protested outside City Hall, calling on the city to redirect funding spent on migrants to their neighborhoods.

The city plans to spend $150 million on migrant services in the first six months of 2024 alone, at a time when campaigners estimate there are more than 50,000 homeless black people.

“The South Side has been under-resourced and under-funded for years, decades,” community organizer Jessica Jackson said at the rally. “We have schools that need to be reopened.”

She continued, “For them to sympathize with their needs and say it's a humanitarian crisis when black people have had a humanitarian crisis in terms of housing, employment and everything else.

“How are we being pushed back?”

Five years ago, Haley had protested colleagues' use of the N-word, calling it “disrespectful.”

“We live in a time where people change, but the world remains the same,” she told a chapter meeting.

“The NAACP isn't just about black people, sir, it's about all people, working and living together and respecting each other.”

Watson acknowledged that others had raised concerns about migrants during the video call, but said Haley was “the only one who used this derogatory, hateful language.”

“If you think about the rich history of the NAACP, it's the oldest civil rights organization in the country,” he added.

“And to have a president of the state of Illinois engage in that kind of rhetoric and that kind of speech, I never would have imagined that I would have heard that from a civil rights leader.”