CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Charlotte city leaders are sending a message to the White House ahead of the Republican National Convention.

• City council passed a resolution to condemn what they called President Trump's "racist tweets and comments."
• They said "racist hate speech" will not be tolerated in Charlotte.
• Residents at the meeting said they fear what the city will be like for the convention. 

In a 9-2 vote, city council members passed a resolution Monday night condemning what they're calling President Donald Trump's "racist tweets and comments.”

The council says "racist hate speech" will not be tolerated in Charlotte. The move was prompted by a chant during the president’s rally in Greenville last week.

The crowd chanted "send her back,” referring to Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, who came to the United States as a refugee from Somalia. Residents also came out to voice their opinions about the RNC coming to Charlotte.

Many residents say they fear of what the city will be like during the convention and after it leaves, and with recent remarks from President Trump as well as his supporters, many residents fear what minority communities will be forced to deal with in August of 2020.

"I could say so many things about the president, he hasn't changed, but what changes, what makes us better at this, and I would hope that this resolution and the way that we got to it, no matter how hard and difficult in examining, and i think this council has examined and been very thoughtful about it, but i would say that it's beyond our thoughtfulness, it's actually something for all of us to figure out,” said Mayor Vi Lyles.

"Just because this is the president speaking about it, it still affects us daily here. More importantly because we have opted to host the convention, but I do think we should be passing resolutions like these even if we weren’t hosting the convention because we should always be looking to speak out against racism, hatred, bigotry and discrimination," said Justin Harlow, the council member who brought forth the resolution. 

The resolution specifically condemns the “racist and xenophobic language” used by the president and some of his supporters. The resolution doesn't just touch on the most recent remarks from the president trump in the last week, it goes back to mention multiple comments over the past few years that Councilman Harlow said city leaders needed to make a point to condemn.

It also mentions comments president trump made as far back as June 2017 when he spoke about immigrants from Haiti and Nigeria, as well as comments from May 2018 when he referred to undocumented immigrants as "animals," according to the resolution.

Councilmen Tariq Bokhari and Ed Driggs, both Republicans, were the only ones to oppose the resolution.

Read the full resolution below:

CHARLOTTE CITY COUNCIL RESOLUTION

Whereas, on May 26, 2015, the Charlotte City Council unanimously adopted a Resolution on the Protection of Civil Liberties, which the Resolution states that “the Charlotte City Council recognizes that the community is comprised of a diverse population, which is vital to the City of Charlotte” and “the Council seeks to foster trust with all members of  our community”, and

Whereas, on December 19, 2016, the Charlotte City Council unanimously adopted a Resolution stating the Council’s opposition to discrimination, and

Whereas, in June 2017, President Donald Trump said 15,000 recent immigrants from Haiti “all have AIDS” and that 40,000 Nigerians, once seeing the United States, would never “go back to their huts” in Africa, and

Whereas, in August 2017, President Donald Trump called some of those who marched alongside white supremacists in Charlottesville, Va., last August “very fine people.”

Whereas, on May 16, 2018, President Trump referred to undocumented immigrants as “animals.”

Whereas, on July 14, 2019, President Donald Trump suggested that four minority United States congresswomen, all of whom are American citizens and three of whom were born in the United States, should “go back to “the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came.”

Whereas, on July 17, 2019, President Donald Trump held a rally in Greenville, NC where his supporters chanted “Send her Back” in reference to Congresswoman Ilhan Omar.

Whereas, the Council deems it imperative to condemn such racist and xenophocic language that only serves to stoke fear of others and perpetuate division everywhere based on ethnicity, religion, and/or race.

NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Charlotte City Council hereby: (i)acknowledges that many the City’s residents are immigrants and/or people of color; (ii) believes that Charlotte should always be welcoming and inviting of people of diverse and different ethnicities and background, so long as those differences do not lead to personal insults or violent discourse;(iii) strongly condemns all of President Donald Trump’s racist and xenophobic social media tweets and comments; (iv)condemns all hate speech, bigotry, racism, and discrimination, wherever it may occur, especially from the highest levels of government.