
Let’s remove the false suspense: dog and cat lovers can breathe. Haitians in Springfield do not eat pets. The very fact of stating this grotesque sentence reflects the turmoil that has crushed this small Ohio town. An artificial tornado, caused by Donald Trump. During the televised debate with Kamala Harris on September 10, the former president relayed this urban legend from Facebook, thus consecrating Haitians as the viral incarnation of the migratory threat weighing, according to him, on the United States, with the complicity of the Democrats.
The consequences were immediate. About thirty bomb threats were recorded in the city, the origin of which is not established. The cultural festival, planned for the end of September, was cancelled. Schools closed, the university organized online courses.
At the small Haitian community center, operations director Rose-Thamar Joseph has a backlog of 280 emails. Messages of support and solidarity are pouring in from across the country. “We focus on the Haitian community, but it is the entire Springfield community that is suffering from the situation, said this Amazon employee, in excellent French. I was shocked, stunned, hearing Trump. Coming from a personality of this category, perhaps educated… These people have everything they need to verify the information, but have not done so.
The center’s executive director, Viles Dorsainvil, is overwhelmed. A salaried employee at the city’s welfare office, the thoughtful 38-year-old serves as a point of contact for the authorities. Along with other volunteers, Viles Dorsainvil has been passing on messages to the community. Those who can afford it are encouraged to install alarms and cameras in their homes. At night, it’s best to leave the lights out. Always go out in groups. Strange times.
“I love the diversity of Springfield, said the director. But there is a small group of white supremacists who are not in favor of integration. Last month, there were between five and ten of them marching armed, with hoods. It was just to intimidate. We also had negative comments, houses and cars vandalized. It is a very unfortunate situation, but we keep our heads held high.” In reality, the problem goes beyond a handful of extremists. A city’s transformation has become America’s laboratory, a mirror of its anxieties and its incandescent polarization.
Virtues of growth
Situated between Dayton and Columbus, surrounded by gas stations, warehouses and bland chain restaurants, Springfield has experienced a transformation that can’t be captured in clichés. In the 1960s, the city had 80,000 residents. Industry employed people everywhere, and Springfield was growing like the steelmaking northeast, the industrial heart of America. But starting in the 1980s, outsourcing ravaged the local economy and decimated households. The population fell to 60,000. And then, another transformation occurred.
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