by Bobby R. Henry
The National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA), representing more than 200 Black-owned print and online media outlets, is outraged by the demonization and blatant lies being spread about Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and his running mate, J.D. Vance. This purposeful defamation and dehumanization of people legally seeking a better life, like so many immigrants before them, has no place in a country that built its success on the backs of enslaved people and immigrants.
We strongly embrace and respect the diversity and positive contributions of everyone who calls the United States home. This is a core tenet of our values. Let’s be clear: What Donald Trump and J.D. Vance have done by sanctioning and attempting to normalize assaults on immigrants has provided fertile ground for breeding a new generation of hate-mongers. The NNPA will join forces with, and add our voice to, any organization that denounces and takes action against this kind of open bigotry, hate, and violence.
Today, in a country whose foundation rests on a system of true democracy, we must never vote for those whose self-interests conflict with the greater good. Our most powerful weapon to eradicate this behavior is our vote. We must vote them out, or better yet, not vote for them in the first place.
Vote like your life depends on it — because it does.
Bobby R. Henry is the Chairman of the National Newspapers Publishers Association (NNPA)
