I’ve worked as a cashier at a Walmart in Springfield, Ohio, for almost four years now, and I’ve seen a lot of Haitian immigrants. A lot.
About a third of the people I see go through my self-checkout are Haitian, and it’s caused me to notice a few things about their eating habits.
They buy a lot of fresh produce and bulk meat. I often see them with lima beans, coconut water and peanut oil. They come to shop in big groups, buying for multiple families.
I’ve seen a lot of the food that Haitians eat. I’ve never seen them eat a dog or cat.
Has everyone in Springfield welcomed Haitians? No. Have Haitians done anything serious to warrant this reaction? Not really.
There are definitely people in Springfield who don’t like Haitians. I even work with a few of them, but this new rhetoric that has suddenly emerged is more hateful than anything I’ve heard a co-worker say.
My mom, Marcia Roth, works at a local high school where my three younger siblings attend. They’ve gone on lockdown once and been sent home because of bomb threats. There’s only one Haitian student who attends the school.
My family was watching the debate when former President Donald Trump dropped the now infamous line: “They’re eating the dogs and cats in Springfield.”
My family was appalled.
“We couldn’t believe that he had gone and perpetuated this rumor in front of the entire county that had already been debunked,” my mom said.
A more precise word for it is lying, but that’s neither here nor there.
If I’m being honest, I’m pissed about it. In the past week, I’ve read article after article about the negative repercussions from JD Vance, the vice presidential candidate who literally admitted he made up the story. A bomb threat was called in at my Walmart in the middle of me writing this article. I recognized employees in the photo posted by the Springfield News-Sun. No one should have to be evacuated from their place of work.
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Ever since Vance spewed that attack on legal Haitian immigrants, I’ve seen more Springfielders, both Democrat and Republican, post infographics than I’ve ever before. And all of them essentially say the same thing: “You don’t live here. You don’t know anything. Shut up and stop sending bomb threats.”
And the infographics aren’t the only thing to come out of this.
My family attended the Haitian mass at St. Raphaels, our home parish. My mom said people thought it was a special mass, but the church has been hosting a mass in Haitian Creole weekly for months. The mass was full, but mostly with local supporters, not the Haitians the mass is targeted toward. These people are so afraid of being hurt by their community that they won’t come to their own mass.
To a lot of people in Springfield, there is a massive “Haitian issue.” But what the issue is, is where people begin to disagree.
The issue is a lack of understanding. Is it difficult working at the self-checkout, trying to explain to someone that they need to weigh their produce when they can’t read the machine or understand what you’re saying? Of course. But that’s the extent of it.
We don’t understand each other.
But that can change.
My parents are both teachers with master’s degrees, and they’re volunteering to teach Haitian children English on Tuesdays and Thursdays. There’s an on-demand Haitian Creole translation at my eye doctor. The Clark County Democrats just held a peace rally with more than a hundred participants. I know this can change Springfield for the better.
“People are saying how terrible it is and I have no experience with that, all I’ve experienced is a new Haitian food aisle in GroceryLand,” my mom said.
Haitian immigrants deserve the effort it takes to understand and empathize with someone. All they’ve done is show up, like anyone else moving here. Now it’s our turn to welcome them.
Gina Roth is a senior majoring in individualized studies and journalism from Springfield, Ohio. She is an undergraduate assistant for Journalism 101 honors, a barista at King Cafe and a Western Center student worker. Her focus is popular history and its effect on society and politics.
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