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More than 130 individuals recently gathered in a virtual meeting space in Springfield, Ohio. Their objective? To address the entirely avoidable predicament that Donald Trump, J.D. Vance, and their supporters have created. Despite pleas from various individuals, including the Republican Governor, to cease, the former President and his running mate have continued to spread false claims accusing Springfield’s Haitian community of stealing pets for consumption.
This is why numerous local social service professionals convened last week—to solidify a plan to ensure that Springfield’s Haitian population, potentially as large as 20,000, not only survives this crisis but emerges stronger on the other side.
“When we come together, we know what we’re working for,” Kerry Lee Pedraza, the executive director of the local United Way chapter, tells me. “We’re working to make this a more inclusive, unified community.”
She won’t say it. I will: Trump and his lies are doing the opposite.
It has been two weeks since Trump utilized a nationally televised debate with Vice President Kamala Harris to spread the fabricated and thoroughly discredited rumor that, in Springfield, “they’re eating the dogs, the people that came in. They’re eating the cats.” He and fellow Republicans have since intensified the malicious myth, acknowledging that they might be mistaken—to be clear: they absolutely are—but perceive the falsehood as a means to elevate a discussion about immigration. The suffering they have inflicted on Haitians in the process appears to be of minimal concern. For voters driven by anti-immigrant frustrations, the fabricated story is merely a convenient tool to advance the conversation.
The entire city of Springfield has been shaken by this crisis. A community that had long welcomed tourists drawn to the state’s solitary Frank Lloyd Wright prairie-style residence is now grappling with an influx of white supremacists and conspiracy theorists. Ohio State Highway Patrol officers are still deployed on the streets at the behest of the Governor, and City Hall is subject to cyclical lockdowns. Public schools that had been closed due to bomb threats have reopened but remain heavily guarded. Some universities have transitioned to fully remote learning as a precautionary measure. Absenteeism and truancy are impacting non-Haitians more significantly than anyone else.
However, it was not lost on anyone at the Haitian Coalition summit last week that things had fundamentally changed most dramatically for Springfield’s Haitians—whose population reaches as high as 20,000 according to some estimates, many of whom are refugees who arrived after the pandemic. It is impossible to overlook the sudden absence of Haitians in local grocery stores, as many are still choosing to go to work and little else. But it is also noticeable in the surge in demand for English As a Second Language classes and increased interest in hiring Haitian Creole translators for pre-K programs to expedite the language development of Springfield’s youngest residents.
Working largely behind the scenes, the local United Way has emerged as an unexpected leader of a coalition of social service organizations collaborating with the Haitian community. Pedraza presented me with a detailed and ambitious plan to bolster services for Haitians in the area amidst this crisis: additional translators for young children, language tutors for adults, and even driving lessons for newcomers in light of the current panic’s catalyst being a fatal accident involving a Haitian driver.
Pedraza recalled observing more than 45 Haitians in attendance at a recent ESL class she audited. Given the substantial waiting list, United Way is actively seeking to raise funds to launch another 10 weekly classes to alleviate the workload of the volunteer instructors currently leading approximately 15 sessions.
Guiding the community through this crisis is Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, who resides nearby at his family farm in Cedarville, and has made a conscious effort in recent times to spend more public time in the town than usual. DeWine, city officials, and law enforcement have all repeatedly stated that the GOP’s portrayal of Springfield as a proxy for Port-au-Prince where Haitians are hunting dogs, cats, and geese for meat is completely false.
Still, in a New York Times op-ed published on Sept. 20, DeWine treated Trump and his running mate, Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, with a soft touch. “Their verbal attacks against these Haitians—who are legally present in the United States—dilute and cloud what should be a winning argument about the border,” DeWine wrote. While no one will accuse DeWine of being overly cautious when it comes to standing up to his party—the man criticized Mitt Romney in 2012 for his seemingly anti-immigrant rhetoric—it was a moment when he reaffirmed his support for a ticket spreading lies about his hometown.
After the debate, Trump claimed he was planning a rally in Springfield, a promise that for many in the community felt more like a threat. As of now, no such event has been announced.
For individuals like Pedraza, any outsiders seeking to capitalize on a manufactured crisis would not be welcome. “I think there are more of us who are saying, please stay away,” she says. “It is a wonderful town, and we love to have people come and visit. But unless you’re coming here to visit and to do something meaningful and productive, then we don’t need you here in our town.”
When the locally born head of the local United Way, who has dedicated four decades to working in civic groups, advises you to stay away, it might be wise to listen.
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