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A program and flag raising to celebrate the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was held Friday at Springfield City Hall. Here is the keynote speaker Bishop Talbert W. Swan II. (Dave Roback / The Republican)

(Staff-Shot)

Springfield NAACP President Bishop Talbert Swan II reportedly joined more than two dozen national black leaders this week in challenging Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton's stance on issues related to so-called "religious freedom."

Swan, the pastor of the Spring of Hope Church Of God In Christ and assistant general secretary for the National Church Of God In Christ, signed his name to an "Open Letter to Hillary Clinton Regarding Religious Freedom for Black America," Breitbart reported.

The letter, which was reportedly signed by more than 20 national black leaders and delivered to the Democrat's campaign headquarters on Monday, denounced rhetoric comparing religious freedom policies to "the apartheid of Jim Crow" laws.

"There is no analogy between the apartheid of Jim Crow and the religious freedom laws in force across this country," the letter stated. "It is the very same faith that is protected by religious freedom laws that inspired our black ancestors to lead the movement for the abolition of slavery and the end of Jim Crow apartheid in the American South."

Leaders further argued that "it is absurd to demean the defense of this faith as the equivalent of the injustices that we have fought and overcome," Breitbart reported.

Turning to Clinton's support for abortion-related policies, meanwhile, the leaders also took issue with the percentage of black babies aborted in the United States and urged the Democratic nominee to explain her stance on the contentious practice.

Arguing that "abortion in the black community has had a catastrophic impact," the leaders reportedly called on Clinton to justify her position.

"Black babies are dying at terrifying rates," they wrote in the letter. "How do you justify your unconscionable silence in the face of such destruction of innocent black life? Don't black lives matter?"

Pointing to crime, the leaders further argued that the former secretary of state's attitude toward religion undermines what has traditionally kept the black community together, according to Breitbart.

Eroding the religious freedom rights of the black church, they argued, prevents the church from impacting young men.

"The work of the black church in our poor communities is of the utmost importance and the importance of our freedom to operate in accordance with our faith cannot be overstated," they wrote.

Leaders called for a meeting with the Democratic nominee to discuss how her potential presidential administration would respond to such concerns, as well as how she would ensure protection of all Americans' constitutional freedoms.

Other Massachusetts leaders who reportedly joined Swan in signing the letter included: Rev. Mark V. Scott, of Azusa Christian Community in Boston; Jacqueline C. Rivers, of Seymour Institute for Black Church & Policy Studies in Boston; Bishop Gideon A. Thompson, of Church of God in Boston; Pastor Jamie Perdomo, of Iglesia Cristiana Nueva Vida in East Boston; Donna Desilus, of Azusa Christian Community in Boston; Rev. Vernard Coulter, of Missionary Baptist Church in Boston; and Pastor Egobudike Ezedi, of Empowerment Christian Center in Boston.