Dayton on anti-immigrant lies: “That’s not who we are”

Gem City Action, Marianist Sisters (Daughters of Mary Immaculate), Bethel Baptist Church, and other Dayton leaders and supporters rallied in Dayton’s Bomberger Park to show love and support for immigrants who have chosen to make Ohio home.

Check out photos on Gem City Action’s Instagram page. See excerpts from a story in the Dayton Daily News below and read the story.

Xavier Johnson, the pastor of Bethel Baptist Church, said he finds it unfortunate that harmful rhetoric against immigrants has become commonplace in political discourse.

“But rejecting that kind of discourse begins with actions like this — with us showing up and saying, you know what, that’s not who we are. This is not what we do. It is unacceptable, and we reject it,” he said.

Johnson wore a shirt that said “Haiti: Freedom began with us,” which nods to Haiti’s establishment as a free republic in 1804 following its revolution from France. Haiti was the first country to permanently ban slavery.