Illinois NAACP president Teresa Haley suspended for comments
Illinois NAACP conference president Teresa Haley of Springfield has been suspended after comments she made in a video call comparing immigrants to rapists and savages went public.
A spokesperson for NAACP confirmed the suspension on Friday, which went into effect on Wednesday. At this point, it is unclear for how long Haley will be suspended.
More: Haley issues apology; has backing of NAACP branch presidents
The suspension comes after NAACP branch presidents announced their backing of Haley's leadership earlier this week. Haley issued an apology Thursday, saying she loves and values "all members of our communities — including immigrants."
Haley's recorded comments from an NAACP state presidents' meeting last month were made public by former NAACP DuPage County president Patrick Watson. He received a vote of no confidence at the same meeting Wednesday where branch presidents "unanimously supported Haley's quintessential leadership skills."
The suspension is a good start, Watson said, but still thinks a resignation is necessary.
"The NAACP was founded on the very thing that Ms. Haley did on the call," Watson said Friday. "For someone who's in a leadership position — the top leadership position in the state of the NAACP — to make those kind of remarks on immigrants... there's no place for that."
Referring to the thousands of migrants who have been bussed to Chicago from southern states, Haley said "these immigrants have come over here, they've been raping people. They've been breaking into homes. They're like savages, as well."
Gov. JB Pritzker said Thursday that he has yet to speak with NAACP officials on the matter, but again referred to the remarks as "reprehensible." Others such as the Springfield Immigration Advocacy Network said the comments reinforce negative stereotypes.
"They're bigoted, they're false and I don't know why she said them," the governor said at an unrelated event in Springfield. His administration has allocated $638 million in state funds to address the migrant crisis.
Haley has been working with congressional lawmakers to designate the 1908 Springfield Race Riot as a national monument site. The NAACP was born out of the race riot the following year.
Among them is U.S. Rep. Nikki Budzinski, D-Springfield, who called Haley's comments "offensive and deeply disturbing." She and U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth are still committed to the project despite the comments, spokespersons for both lawmakers confirmed.
"The steps being taken to hold her accountable for those remarks are appropriate," Philip Shelby, a Budzinski spokesperson said in a text message to The State Journal-Register. "I look forward to continuing my work with the NAACP to have the site of the 1908 Springfield Race Riot designated as a national monument.”
Watson, who said he resigned from his position due to Haley's comments about the LGBTQ community in another gathering of branch presidents, is not concerned for the future of the project.
"The NAACP and the monument itself is larger than one person," he said.
Contact Patrick M. Keck: 312-549-9340, pkeck@gannett.com, twitter.com/@pkeckreporter.
This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: National NAACP confirms Haley's suspension for migrant remarks
