A coalition of Haitian American organizations will hold a rally this Sunday at Federal Plaza to "Stop Haitian Hate" amid false claims and remarks made by former President Donald Trump about Haitian migrants abusing animals in Springfield, Ohio.
“These comments are very hateful, you know, racism,” Gerald Daye Sr. said. “Just plain nasty.”
The husband and father of three immigrated from Haiti to Evanston when he was 9 years old and currently serves as the president of the Haitian Community Organization. His organization provides support and resources for Haitian migrants and families.
“This has not been a great thing for the Haitian community and we also, if you remember back some years, we were also degraded by saying we brought AIDS here,” he said. “So it hasn’t been really easy for Haitians in the sense that this comes back full turn again.”
He and other Haitian Americans plan to attend a rally at Federal Plaza this Sunday, calling on Chicagoans to "Stop Haitian Hate."
“We’ve decided that this is important that we be vocal about it and make it known that this racism, and this disgrace is really, especially it’s not true,” he said. “It’s not true, Haitians do not do that.”
The Coalition of Haitian American Organizations in the Chicagoland Area is organizing the rally. The founder of Daughters of Haiti is part of the coalition and said the message this weekend is all about unity.
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“We stand under a unification platform,” Cyndee Montes Newman said. “In Haiti and even on our flag, it says “L'Union fait la Force,” which means strength is in unity, and so we believe that is what we’re going to do as a community is to stand up in unity together.”
Montes Newman told NBC Chicago she was personally disgusted and disappointed by the baseless claims saying it was hurtful given the contributions by Haitian Americans.
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“Many of the Haitian Americans that live here, we are productive citizens of society,” she said. “We’re doctors, we’re lawyers, we’re teachers, we’re nurses, we’re architects, we’re entrepreneurs, we’re chefs.”
She said there’s no truth to what the president said during the presidential debate with Vice President Kamala Harris. The coalition condemns and denounces the attacks on Haitian migrants.
“I hope that people will look beyond that and see the truth ad ultimately to stop Haitian hate to support these people in Springfield, Ohio as well as everywhere else in the country.”
The rally is scheduled for 2 p.m. Sunday at Chicago's Federal Plaza.
