Special Issue: The lies about Haitians in Springfield reveal how un-Christian the MAGA movement is

You won't find God in the Trump/Vance ticket

This is a unique newsletter issue today. Rather than coverage of an election, its more of a long-delayed commentary on the state of the modern right-wing. The horrible events in Springfield, Ohio have made it so that I just had to put these thoughts down in writing. Specifically, this is coming from my personal perspective as a devout Christian. As I see it, if there was any doubt before, the Trump/Vance weaponizing of Springfield shows just how un-Christian the GOP ticket is.

My disdain for Donald Trump and the MAGA movement is no secret. I let it be known in my articles, and if you think that stuff is over the top, you should see my twitter account. I am fairly unique in the left, though hardly alone, in that my dislike for Donald and his followers is driven heavily by religion. While I can sit down and make all the arguments for why I believe left-wing economics is more in line with Christian calls to charity, and why extreme anti-LGBT attacks (calling people groomers and such) are a direct rejection of Christ’s words and actions toward love, this is not the topic of this piece. Unlike the countless far-right twitter users that put a cross in their name and call themselves “Orthodox” or “Trad Cath” and then quote one bible line out of context to justify their shitty behavior, I do not presume to be an expert on parsing all of scripture.

BUT, when looking at the racism and bigotry that permeates the MAGA movement and Trump world, there is plenty that even a novice on Christian doctrine can look at and say “oh this is not acceptable at all.” The attacks on Haitian migrants in Springfield Ohio is a perfect low bar for anyone to condemn. The verbal assault on an entire community, based off debunked neo-Nazi propaganda and repeated by Donald Trump, has, to me, perfectly separated the real from fake Christians. It has separated people who claim the cross from those who actually critically and spiritually engage with the Bible and its message. While I have ranted on twitter PLENTTYYYY about how immoral and Godless I find Donald Trump and his rabid followers, this latest bit of horror has made it so that I need to put this all down in writing - less I explode from bent up rage.

So first lets look at the ACTUAL facts about what us going on in Ohio and then get back to the mid-week religious rantings.

American views of Haiti

Having grown up in southern Broward County, I was exposed to Haitian culture through an increasing migrant population from the island. In fact, back in 2021, I wrote about the arrival of Cuban and Caribbean refugees over South Florida’s last several decades. Give that link a click for more data/maps on the story of South Florida. That article delves into how the US treated Cuban exiles, fleeing communist, differently from Haitian refugees, fleeing dictatorships and instability. Both Cuban and Haitian populations in Miami-Dade suffered backlashes at different times, which I covered there.

Haiti is often viewed with a exaggerated caricature; with Voodoo being seen as a common practice in the Island. This was aided by folks like Dictator François Duvalier, also known as Papa Doc, who promoted himself as a Voodoo leader. Growing up in South Florida, EVERYONE knew about Papa Doc, the Voodoo Tyrant. An excellent series by the “Real Dictators” podcast on Papa Doc can be seen here.

However, like much of local traditions, the role of Voodoo is often greatly overstated; sometimes by outsiders but also at times Haitian migrants who will lean into the “witch doctor” role to the American and Europeans who love to be wowed by the “primitive superstitions” and drop some cash for a fortune telling. When most Americans think of Haitian culture, they likely have a view similar to the Dr. Facilier song from Princess and the Frog.

This song is a banger, I will say that.

The point is, while racists will always latch onto any non-white group as bad, Haitians are subject to a greater degree of skepticism even by those who otherwise you would not think of as prejudice. Decades of caricature feed an uneasy feeling about a presumed primitive culture. The reality of Haiti’s modern struggles, which are faced by many third world nations that struggle with the effects of colonialism, are complex. I highly recommend listening the the Revolutions Podcast on the Haitian Revolution to understand how its history, and the sabotage of European and American powers, left Haiti where it is today.

What is Really Happening in Springfield, Ohio

Lets lay out what is actually going on in Springfield, OH. There is no shortage of false stories and fake statistics being thrown out.

First, 20,000 Haitian migrants did not show up in the city of Springfield over night. Haitian migrants, many who were already living in South Florida and have visas or protection status, began to move to the city as it worked to attract new residents. Like much of the Midwest, Springfield was becoming a rust-belt town, seeing its population go from 80,000 to 60,000 over the last few decades. It was the site of abandoned buildings, crumbling infrastructure, and declining quality of life.

Population drops are never good for the long-term health of a community, this is a constant across history throughout the world. The city successfully attracted new businesses to the community, but was facing a workforce shortage. Simply put, there were not enough workers who needed jobs in the area due to a population drop that had already taken place. Migrants, who by their status have less tying them down to where they are, began to move to the area and filled these jobs.

With the growth, which especially increased after the worst of COVID, there were challenges. Estimated Haitian migrants to the town are between 12,000 and 20,000; and of course the 20,000 is being quoted. The increase, which is high in such a short time, has led to issues with infrastructure and services. However, these issues have not been fatal, and also have been countered by renewed economic growth. In 2022, the local press were referring the growth as a “resurgence” for the area. City leaders are happy with the population increases and the economic renewal that they have inspired. Keep in mind that as people move to an area and work, they build up wealth and re-invest that in the local economy.

The far-right has acted as if immigration dropped off 20,000 migrants with no jobs and destroyed the town. That is a bold faced lie. Claims of increased crime have also been rejected by the law enforcement of the city itself. The data from the city’s court system show no major jump in crime and no evidence of disproportionate crime done by the Haitian residents. Like is commonly the case, immigrants tend to be more well-behaved than native citizens.

The rapid growth does lead to challenges, and the city has been working with the state on getting extra funds to provide what they need to. A need for more housing, better roads, and more service centers, is a real issue. However, it is a fixable issue and still beneficial long-term. A much more detailed look at the data can be viewed here. Republican Governor Mike DeWine, who has rejected the conspiracies of late, pointed out much of the issues in the town are infrastructure and resources related

“When you go from a population of 58,000 and add 15,000 people onto that, you’re going to have some challenges and some problems,” —— “And we’re addressing those. We’re working on those every single day.”

This is not the first community to experience rapid growth due to either migration from foreign nationals or internal-country migration. In my series on Tallahassee’s political shifts from the 1960s and 1970s, I cover how the city’s rapid growth, caused by the expansion of the University System and the State Agencies of the capital, led to plenty of local elections being consumed by issues of more housing, more services, and the needs for widened roads. Today Tallahassee is far more prosperous than the smaller town it once was before those growing pains.

Springfield is the site of renewed economic growth. Long term the city will benefit greatly from this development. The short term “growing pains” are a legitimate issue - but nothing like the far-right smear campaign laid out.

So lets dive into that.

Trump/Vance Embrace the White Nationalists

The story of Springfield, which was already being used in fringe circles as a “dangers of immigration” story - kicked into high gear when it was picked up by Donald Trump and JD Vance. What really caught far-right fire was completely false claims of Haitian residents eating pets. A lie told by Donald Trump himself at the debate that he lost to Kamala Harris.

“They’re eating the dogs. They’re eating the cats. They’re eating the pets of the people that live there,”

This claim has been directly refuted by the local police

We wish to clarify that there have been no credible reports or specific claims of pets being harmed, injured or abused by individuals within the immigrant community.

So how did this begin? It all started with a Facebook comment from a resident posting about a neighbor’s missing cat, and a question about if it was taken by one of the city’s Haitian migrants. This rumor may have even stemmed from earlier Neo-Nazi rumors pushed by the immigration increase in the city. The poster of this accusation now says how much she regrets what has come of it.

One rumor, something also based off decades-long prejudices about immigrants eating pets, could not spread like this on its own. No, the rumor spread via Neo-Nazi groups, especially a group named Blood Tribe, which worked to spread the rumors across right-wing social media. This is how the pet and crime rumors made their way into far-right circles and eventually into many Republican circles. More details on the Neo-Nazi pipeline of rumors can be read here.

The claim has been repeated on social media with images. A photo of a Black man with some dead geese was claimed to be in Springfield. It was actually road kill being cleaned up in Columbus. A video of someone cooking lamb in their bark yard in was claimed to be a dog. Videos of people cooking chicken was claimed to be a cat.

Trump repeated the nonsense at the debate and JD Vance on twitter said to keep the “memes coming” - relating to posting photos of pets “safe from Haitian migrants.” This tweet of Vance came even as threats of violence were rapidly increasing in Springfield. Reports of vandalism have increased along with phone and email threats.

Then just on Sunday, JD Vance admitted that the stories of “Haitians eating pets” was exaggerated to simply bring the issue of immigration to forefront. He also constantly referred to the migrants as illegal.

“The American media totally ignored this stuff until Donald Trump and I started talking about cat memes. If I have to create stories so that the American media actually pays attention to the suffering of the American people, then that’s what I’m going to do,” (JD Vance on CNN)

As bomb threats against local hospitals, schools, and city councils increased, Vance remained defiant.

“There is nothing that I have said that has led to threats against these hospitals, these hospitals, the bomb threats and so forth,”

Springfield’s Republican Mayor Rob Rue, who has been adamant against the far-right conspiracies, warned national politicians about the damage they were doing.

"It would be helpful if they understood the weight of their words and how they could harm a community like ours,"

When Donald Trump was asked to comment on the bomb threats, he repeated lies about Haitian immigrants being here illegally and falsely claimed the town has been destroyed.

“I don’t know what happened with the bomb threats. I know that it’s been taken over by illegal migrants and that’s a terrible thing that happened. Springfield was this beautiful town and now they’re going through hell. It’s a sad thing. Not gonna happen with me, I can tell you right now.”

Trump has also used the issue to argue he will issue mass deportations. Again these are people here legally. He also says he will deport them to Venezuela… for some reason.

Neither Trump or Vance, both clear white nationalists, can admit their rhetoric has led to violent threats. They repeat false stories about the LEGAL residents of the town and instead of working to address the infrastructure concerns, play into an idea that immigrants destroy communities.

It should be noted that Mayor Bob Rue, at least as of a few days ago, has said he has not heard from Vance or Trump. If they really cared, why didn’t they reach out to the mayor?

The Risk of a Pogrom Grows

The spread of the racist conspiracies has led, as already mentioned, to a major escalation in violent rhetoric. Wittenberg University is currently in virtual-only classes after threats of shooting of Haitian students were revealed. Bomb threats targeted city hall and hospitals.

The result in the city has been a nightmare, with a once closer-nit town being divided and ripped apart.

"I take my kids to the park usually, I cannot do that anymore. You know, I have to just stay home and just don't go out. We used to just go for a walk in the neighborhood, but we cannot do that anymore," (From a Haitian migrant who has been a resident for THREE years and owns property in the city)

With the increased hateful rhetoric, the threat of violence only increases. On Monday, Kenwood Elementary was forced to evacuate due to threats. This notice came from the Springfield School District.

Based on information received from the Springfield Police Division (SPD), Simon Kenton and Kenwood Elementary students were evacuated from their buildings to an alternate district location. The District is in the process of a controlled release to dismiss students to their parents. These are the fifth and sixth SCSD buildings to be targeted by recent threats within the last week.

A few weeks ago, Springfield was dealing with some legitimate, but manageable growing pains. Now it is dealing with nonstop threats of racial violence.

Those of us who study history know the risk posed here is a massive pogrom - or a wave of violence against a targeted group. Pogroms are often thought of regarding Jewish residents in Europe, who would be subject to major attacks for centuries leading up to the Holocaust. In America, the burning of “Black Wall Street” in Tulsa, also known as the Tulsa Race Massacre, can be seen as an example of a pogrom. This is, of course, what the Neo-Nazi’s want. In recent days these fliers are being posted around the area. This photo came from a local pastor.

Amidst this darkness, the local Churches have tried to be a source of comfort.

The Church Tries to Step In

As the city continues to be rocked by these politically-driven attacks, it is the left and the churches that are trying to fight back. The true Christians, not the fake MAGA horde, have been trying to repair the divide in the city. This profile from Christianity Today (hardly a left-wing source) highlights what REAL men and women of God are doing.

A majority of the Haitian migrants are Catholic; which has long roots in Haiti. As such, many churches, whether Catholic or Protestant, have commented on the increased Haitian population leading to increases in church attendance for the first time in decades. Far-right commentators latch onto the history of Voodoo being incorporated into Catholic teachings. However, this of course becomes a racist caricature which overlooks how much modern Haitian Catholicism still mirrors the broad church. Books have also been written extensively on the merging of old “pagan” beliefs with Christianity; whether in South America, North America, or Europe. Always remember the Christmas holiday stems from pagan winter festivals.

The Archdiocese of Cincinnati recently release a statement, an excerpt is below.

As faithful Catholics, we have a responsibility to carefully discern between provocative narratives and the truth of the Church’s work with migrants and refugees in need.  The objectification of any human being or set of human beings is not in keeping with the commandment to love one another.

Church leaders across Springfield have called on the racist attacks to stop and lamented the effect of the national attention in dividing the community.

“We do know in about five weeks the election is going to be over … and we’re going to be left trying to sew up the tears.” Jeremy Hudson, Pastor of Fellowship Church

The absolute moral ROT at the heart of the MAGA movement can be perfectly seen below. Here we have a Catholic Priest call out the attacks on Haitian migrants. In the replies, and there are hundreds like the one below, we have some self-professed “Christian” sticking with nativism.

As the 700+ replies to the initial tweet can attest, there are countless so-called Christian scholars trying to justify their prejudices. They wrap themselves in the cross, just like their political leader, while spewing Godless racism. They have such a warped version of Christianity, almost surely stemming from never critically engaging with actual biblical texts, that they are in an entire different realm of reality than the rest of us. They are part of the Christian Nationalism movement, which is a heresy that aims to place America (and white people) as the Lord’s chosen.

Local Pastor Carl Ruby of Central Christian Church has been defending Haitian residents on Facebook, leading to comments from people that he needs to be “run out of town.” Ruby has replied that the moment must be used to push the message of the Gospel to counter the vile attacks….

“The contrast of the gospel message is so stark. It’s so hopeful.”

At Sunday’s service, Ruby directed his sermon at the lies being spread

“Jesus is with us in truth, and the truth is that Haitians are not eating pets and geese in Springfield. It is truth that a retraction of these rumors will help to restore peace in Springfield. We respectfully call on all politicians and media figures who are promoting this rumor to help make Springfield great and safe again by speaking the truth about our community.”

Even amid the good stories from the Sunday churches, one notable fact was that church attendance was down. Many Haitian residents do not feel safe. Church leaders have called on Trump himself to denounce the attacks and stop spreading the lies.

Local religious leaders have not been the only ones to stand with Haitian migrants. Across the country, proper religious leaders that never bought into the MAGA movement have condemned these attacks. Russell Moore, a conservative Baptist leader that has long been critical of Trump, laced into the attacks in a piece for the Atlantic.

The cruelty to Haitian immigrants—and with it, the implicit incitement of potential violence—is not one of those debatable issues. And Christians do not need to struggle to figure out what Jesus would have us do here. If we see children sheltering at home because they fear violence, we know that’s wrong. And when we see that this fear comes from the incitement of hatred against those children because of where their parents came from, surely we can smell the brimstone.

Moore does not give a pass to people like Vance or Trump repeating lies that then invoke fear.

“How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness” (Book of James)

Moore was a notable supporter of allowing Syrian refugees in American back in 2015. Like myself, Moore understood that a good Christian must do everything he can to open his doors to the stranger.

Of course, the MAGA horde on twitter will use the false claims of Springfield being “destroyed” to say “well you can’t help people at the expense of others.” However, as already covered, these people react to a false reality of what is happening in the city. And when legit issues arise from such major immigration changes, the answer from any true Christian must be “how can we ease this burden” and not “KICK EVERYONE OUT, CALL IN BOMB THREATS, FUCK THESE PEOPLE.”

A Godless Movement

The right-wing of America, dating back to Gerry Falwell, loved to portray themselves as the Godly movement, the Godly Republican Party. Now I am not here to go into how Reagan cutting social services wasn’t very Christian of him (it wasn’t) - but rather to talk about the CURRENT state of things. I can look at a George W. Bush and say “you made my life hell and your Iraq war was a disaster” and still see glimmers of good. Bush’s one true good moment was post 9/11 when he went out of his way to separate Islam from terrorists

"The terrorists are traitors to their own faith, trying, in effect, to hijack Islam itself. The enemy of America is not our many Muslim friends; it is not our many Arab friends. Our enemy is a radical network of terrorists, and every government that supports them." (Bush at September 20th, 2001 Joint Session of Congress)

Don’t get me wrong. Bush’s list of faults are 20x larger than his positives. But I ask, can anyone imagine President Donald Trump saying ANYTHING like that after such an attack? No. The fact is, Donald would have been setting up camps.

This is fundamentally the difference in how I view past Republican leaders from the MAGA movement and Donald Trump. That difference, that divide, comes down to the fact that I see Donald Trump as an objectively evil man with no redeeming good. He is an adulterer, a Greedy conman, a court-affirmed rapist, a bigot, and a man who would burn the country down to get his way. He cares about no one but himself. He is also a man that clearly does not believe in any God.

“I think if I do something wrong, I think, I just try and make it right. I don’t bring God into that picture,” (Trump in 2015 on seeking God for forgiveness)

Trump’s affiliation with Christianity is about as tight as I would argue most of the NAZI Reich members were. They use it, they stick to their upbringings to claim faith, but in reality they were non-believers. Trump is the same. Nothing in his actions or words have ever done anything but scream “unbeliever claiming faith for power.”

No moment affirmed this more for me than in 2020 when he used the national guard to force peaceful BLM protestors away so he could take a photo op at the St Johns Church. There he stood, awkwardly holding a book he has, and I will bet my LIFE on this, never read. Not even a children’s coloring book version.

There, standing with a Bible he’s never read, I thought, “the cloud of Satan oozes off this man.” Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Michael Curry was more tactful.

"This evening, the President of the United States stood in front of St. John's Episcopal Church, lifted up a bible, and had pictures of himself taken. In so doing, he used a church building and the Holy Bible for partisan political purposes. This was done in a time of deep hurt and pain in our country, and his action did nothing to help us or to heal us."

I never thought he was a believer before, but I know for sure he isn’t after that.

The MAGA movement is a movement built of racism, xenophobia, sexism, and bigotry. The rot at its core stems from the rot at the top. A man who represents all that is wrong with humanity. A man who is the perfect counterweight to what any Christian should strive to be. With him, he has rallied his horde of racist unbelievers along with delusional Christian Nationalists to terrorize a town in Ohio.

For a party that for my entire life claimed to be the party of God, it is currently in the clutches of a man who is the embodiment of rejecting the words of the Gospel. Donald Trump’s diseased soul, per Christian scripture, can be saved. I, revealing my own struggles with at times failing to offer others grace, have no faith it will. But unlike W, I cannot find one redeeming quality about Trump. He is a poison not only for the country, but for the Christian faith. That evil cloud, an evil I feel comes from the origin of creation, billows off this man and his movement.

The healing for this country won’t happen over night. But it must start by denying this… wicked man… the power he craves. In November, we MUST perform an exorcism at the ballot box.