Washington, DC — The Haitian-American community in Springfield, OH and around the country is feeling targeted and unsafe because dehumanizing, debunked and racist conspiracies are being advanced at the highest levels of American politics and are still being repeated. The false claim that Black immigrants are violently attacking American families by stealing and eating their pets is a powerful and old racist trope that puts a target on people’s backs, and it is turbo-charged in the era of MAGA when political violence has become commonplace and we have already witnessed violent incidents incited by such rhetoric.
The escalation towards real violence has already started, as Ohio local media outlet WHIO noted, “Bomb threat forces evacuation of several Springfield buildings, schools; FBI, police investigating.” Meanwhile, The Haitian Times wrote, “Haitian families in Ohio under attack as racist claims spread,” noting that, “As false claims spread, the more unsafe Haitian immigrants are feeling … S.P., a community activist, said families have been calling her all morning saying they are scared. ‘People are very afraid for their lives,’ S.P. said. ‘Many families are starting to think of leaving Springfield after last night and some kids aren’t even going to school because of fear of being attacked.’”
According to Vanessa Cárdenas, Executive Director of America’s Voice:
“It’s essential to recognize the larger strategy on display from the Republican Party and their allies. The lies and conspiracies about Haitians are part of a larger volume of anti-immigrant and dehumanizing rhetoric that actively courts political violence.
In addition to the lies about Haitians, which echo tropes like the antisemitic blood libel, Trump described this nation in increasingly violent and graphic terms. . What’s the potential response from an unhinged supporter hearing those words and believing those threats? It is violence like the Haitian community is fearful of, and Jewish, Latino, and Black Americans have already experienced in places like Pittsburgh, El Paso, and Buffalo.
Earlier this week, Trump promised that his pledged mass deportations would be ‘bloody.’ And throughout this campaign, the GOP keeps driving the Big Lie 2.0 that the only way Trump will lose this election is if Democrats ‘replace’ the votes of so-called ‘real’ Americans with ineligible voters. Republicans are using this unfounded and debunked fear to justify the suppression and intimidation of eligible voters’ rights and lay the foundation to, once again, violently contest the election results in the style of January 6th if they do not win.
The majority of Americans who reject this dark and dystopic vision and the lies courting violence should come together to denounce this outrageous spectacle of hatred and to chart a different direction for our nation.”
Additional Resources
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- Access recording and recap of yesterday’s virtual briefing featuring leading experts assessed key storylines about immigration and the elections, including the costs of Trump’s proposed mass deportation on the U.S. economy, the Republican effort to advance the Big Lie 2.0, and an overview of polling and research on Latino voters’ views toward immigration, mass deportation and the election. Find press release with quotes HERE and recording of briefing HERE
- Read the new America’s Voice report, “Selling Xenophobia Packaged in Disinformation” with new stats and analysis on the record volume and spending on GOP anti-immigrant ads and messaging this cycle, as well as its efficacy.
- Read new AV Substack on The Big Lie 2.0
