The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today expressed solidarity with the Haitian community in Albertville, Alabama, after recent racist responses to Haitians moving to that city to work in a chicken processing plant.
At a recent public hearing, one person reportedly said: “I’m gonna tell you something else. I’ve been to Haiti. … It’s got a smell to it. These people have smells to them. … These people are not like us. They don’t assimilate. They are not here to assimilate. They’re not here to be Americanized. They are not here to learn Alabama history and they don’t care about our schools.”
“People of all backgrounds have the right to seek employment or live where they want without fear of racist rhetoric or hate-filled stereotyping,” said CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper. “Public officials and community leaders must speak out whenever minority communities are targeted by bigotry.”
SEE: Haitian immigrants fleeing unrest and facing exploitation find ‘Alabama is the best place to live’
He noted that the Columbus office of the Ohio chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-OH) recently expressed solidarity with the Haitian community of Springfield after a neo-Nazi organization held a march targeting them.
He added that in 2020, CAIR supported a call to remove a monument with an image of a Confederate soldier and flag located outside the Marshall County Courthouse in Albertville, Alabama.
Hooper said Washington, D.C., based CAIR and the American Muslim community stand in solidarity with all those challenging antisemitism, systemic anti-Black racism, xenophobia, Islamophobia, white supremacy, and all other forms of bigotry.
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CONTACT: CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell, 404-285-9530, e-Mitchell@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, ihooper@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Manager Ismail Allison, 202-770-6280, iallison@cair.com