How does it feel to be Haitian these days?

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To the Editor:

Someone recently asked me how I feel about being Haitian, because my people are in the news. A rumor started by an obscure social media post, and perpetuated by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and his running mate, Sen. J.D. Vance, suggests that Haitians kidnap and eat pets. Although it’s debunked, the Republican candidates for president and vice president continue repeating it. Are these conversations really about Haitians? Are they about the real lives of immigrants? No, they are not. They are about racism.

Haitians don’t have to feel bad. Racism is about racist people. Racist people feel the need to create sins for others, to justify their hatred of those who are different from them. Hatred reflects cruelty. Cruelty is ugly. The talk in the news is not a reflection of us, rather of the cruelty and hatred espoused by JDV and DJT. They are a dangerous duo for the diverse population of the U.S.

We don’t feel bad about being from Haiti. People don’t choose their parents or their place of birth. We can, however, choose to improve our lives by moving to where we think we can do better. Humans migrate. Just as Europeans began migrating to the Americas 500 years ago, Haitians are among many nationalities who have been coming to the U.S. since. My father first came to the U.S. as a medical resident in the 1940s. Although he loved his life in Chicago, he returned to Haiti after six years. I believe he made that choice after crossing the Mason-Dixon Line on his way to a medical conference for African American doctors in Florida. His time in the U.S. was prior to the civil rights movement.

Today, I read a story written by Asra Nomani in a publication called Jewish Journal. She went to Ohio to investigate the pet-eating story, and found a completely different angle. Many of the Haitians living and working there were recruited by an “employment agency,” which sends its vans all over the U.S. to recruit workers. The owner of one of such agency also owns more than 50 rundown (including some condemned) houses, where he rents beds to the workers. The writer suggests that the real issue in Springfield is a human trafficking problem. Privately, I have been told that the employment agencies keep $2 or $3 per hour of the salaries of all the people they bring to a job. Day workers and night workers alternate on the same beds in the substandard housing. A man they call King George is running the operation in Springfield. Many of the people from Haiti had such a hard time finding work in their home country that they are susceptible to such abuse. Many consider that any job is a good one when you are a recent arrival. We call that “chèche lavi,” searching for life.

A racist attack on one ethnic group by someone being considered for the presidency is a dangerous situation for everyone. When you kick people when they are down, it’s not leadership, it’s bullying. Abusive people create stories to justify their abuse. This bullying by J.D. Vance and D.J. Trump is despicable. Today they may be using us Haitians as their punching bags, but we aren’t unique. Others should worry. 

The poem below comes to mind. It was written by a German Lutheran pastor, and is featured at the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C.

First They Came

First they came for the Socialists,

And I did not speak out —

Because I was not a Socialist.

Then they came for the trade unionists,

And I did not speak out —

Because I was not a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews,

And I did not speak out —

Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me —

And there was no one left

To speak for me.

 

Josiane Hudicourt-Barnes

Vineyard Haven