America Eats Its Young
AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster
Neighborhood kids gather to sell Kool-Aid and chips on September 17, 2024, in Springfield, Ohio
by Jesse Hagopian
September 27, 2024
“Since last year, my kids are facing a lot of problems at school, like they were bullied by other kids,” says Marc, a Haitian immigrant with two young children living in Springfield, Ohio. He was too frightened by recent events there to give his full name to the media. “I had to move to another neighborhood because I was scared for them, and they were very traumatized, especially after all these things they’re saying in social media, that we’re eating dogs . . . . Even local officers say there’s no evidence.”
Marc’s experience—and the trauma his children have endured due to racist disinformation—is the direct result of lies spread by former President Donald Trump and U.S. Senator J.D. Vance, who falsely claimed that Haitian immigrants are stealing and eating local pets. This narrative was designed to stoke fear and division, and its consequences have been devastating. Since these rumors began circulating, Springfield schools have faced more than thirty bomb threats, leading to evacuations, closures, and immense psychological harm to students and their families. In response, the leader of The Haitian Bridge Alliance, an Ohio nonprofit, has brought legal charges against Trump and Vance for “disrupting public services, making false alarms, telecommunications harassment, aggravated menacing, and complicity.”
Rose-Thamar Joseph, the operations director at the Haitian Community Help and Support Center in Springfield, explains, “Some of them are talking about living in fear. Some of them are scared for their life.” The trauma is particularly profound for children.
Mia Perez, a Haitian mother in Springfield, describes how her daughter was evacuated from school twice in one week and asked by classmates, “How does the dog taste? How does the cat taste?”
“This is a conversation that I was not ready to have with my daughter. I felt disrespected of our culture,” she says.
Neo-Nazi groups like Blood Tribe have proudly taken credit for amplifying these lies and inciting hatred against Haitian immigrants. Christopher Pohlhaus, the leader of Blood Tribe, boasted on his Telegram channel that they had “pushed Springfield into the public consciousness,” and the group even organized an “anti-Haitian immigration march” in the city.
Members of Blood Tribe celebrated Trump’s lies as a victory, with one member posting on the far-right platform Gab, “The President is talking about it now. This is what real power looks like.” This is certainly what white supremacist power looks like: lies, bomb threats, demonization of immigrants, Black children afraid to attend school, and far-right extremists working in lockstep with figures like Trump and Vance to fuel fear and division.
Attacks like those in Springfield take root because of the deliberate suppression of historical truth. This suppression happens in routine ways all around the country, such as through whitewashed textbooks that hide the contributions of African Americans and erase Black history. The right has championed laws that ban the teaching of systemic racism, social justice movements, and stories of resistance to make it difficult for young people to understand how systems of oppression have been built, maintained, and challenged.
Astoundingly, nearly half of all public school students around the country today go to a school where their teachers are not allowed to discuss the history of racism and resistance with their students. When students aren’t taught about the Haitian Revolution, the Black freedom struggle, or how marginalized communities have resisted exploitation, they are vulnerable to fear-based narratives that target immigrants like Marc’s family.
The assault on honest education about racism and history has taken a specific toll in Ohio, where the state board of education has been directly implicated in these debates. After the murder of George Floyd in 2020, the board initially passed a resolution condemning racism and promoting equity in education. However, by 2021, the board succumbed to white supremacist backlash and repealed the anti-racism resolution. The replacement resolution stated that the board rejects critical race theory (CRT), and the state legislature has introduced several bills attempting to prohibit teaching about systemic racism.
By denying access to these essential histories, rightwing forces create fertile ground for disinformation to thrive. This is the context that allows fascist groups like Blood Tribe to manipulate public opinion and incite hate toward Haitian immigrants and other marginalized groups. Without the foundation of historical memory, communities are left vulnerable to manipulation, as the current wave of racist disinformation in Springfield demonstrates.
Widespread ignorance surrounding Haiti’s revolutionary history is one of the most glaring examples of knowledge suppression in the United States. The Haitian Revolution (1791–1804) was the only successful revolt of enslaved people who freed themselves and built their own country. Enslaved Africans overthrew French colonial rule—while also successfully defeating the armies of the English and Spanish empires—and established the first Black republic in the Western Hemisphere. Yet, this monumental act of resistance is often excluded or glossed over in American schools.
While the United States was still fully devoted to the barbaric practice of slavery, Haiti had established a constitution declaring all citizens equal under the law, regardless of race. For decades, the United States refused to recognize Haiti’s independence, deliberately isolating the country economically and politically. The United States and other Western powers were terrified of Haiti’s revolution, fearing it would inspire enslaved people throughout the Americas to demand freedom. As it turns out, that fear was justified. In 1811, Charles Deslonde, a leader of the largest slave revolt in U.S. history, was inspired by the Haitian Revolution to lead a rebellion in Louisiana. In addition, as historian Kellie Carter Jackson argued, “South America has Haiti to thank for its freedom in a lot of ways.” She pointed out that the island nation provided Simón Bolívar’s rebels with arms and soldiers to overthrow colonialism in Latin America on the condition that they abolish slavery.
Students are also seldom taught about the U.S. military occupation of Haiti from 1915 to 1934, during which the United States rewrote Haiti’s constitution to allow foreign land ownership and imposed forced labor on Haitian citizens. Thousands were killed during this brutal occupation, which was part of a broader pattern of U.S. imperialism in the Caribbean and Latin America, all under the guise of promoting stability. Ever since, the United States has worked to install and support dictators and illegitimate regimes in Haiti to serve the interests of U.S. corporations.
In the 1980s, Haitians faced another wave of dehumanization during the AIDS crisis when they were falsely labeled as one of the four “risk groups” for the disease, despite no scientific evidence supporting this claim. The stigma reinforced racist stereotypes and led to many Haitians being detained indefinitely at Guantanamo Bay in inhumane conditions.
The erasure of history allows figures like Trump and Vance to shift the blame for systemic failures onto immigrant communities, distracting from the real sources of inequality and injustice in the Americas. By hiding these truths from young people, policymakers deprive them of the knowledge needed to recognize patterns of exploitation, racism, and imperialism.
While Trump and Vance spread lies about Haitians eating pets, the true barbarity is that, as the legendary band Funkadelic famously titled their 1972 album, “America eats its young.”
The real savagery in the United States today is that gun violence is now the leading cause of death for children and teens, with more than 3,500 children’s lives lost to gun-related injuries in 2022 alone. Despite this horrifying reality, politicians remain beholden to the powerful gun lobby and refuse to prioritize children’s safety. Young people are also burdened by $1.7 trillion in student loan debt, trapping millions in a cycle of financial hardship as they enter the workforce with low wages and inadequate social supports. Meanwhile, child poverty surged to 12.4 percent in 2022, meaning nearly nine million children are living in households struggling to meet basic needs. Moreover, the U.S. incarcerates nearly 60,000 children—disproportionately Black, brown, and Indigenous—in youth jails on any given day.
Both the bomb threats made against schools in Springfield and the erasure of history in Ohio and beyond are a continuation of the devouring of youth in America—serving the same goal: to create a culture of ignorance and division. As Vance himself admitted of the claims he made about Haitians in Springfield, “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.” His words lay bare the cynical strategy of the attacks on immigrants, and also of the strategy for outlawing honest history: Keep people in fear by making up stories and then exploit their fears to gain power.
Haiti’s unrelenting resistance to oppression has much to teach us all. If we are ever going to achieve a society based on solidarity and equality—one that nourishes our young people, rather than consuming them—we must demand an education that dispels the racist lies about Haitians and teaches the truth about the hope and inspiration that Haiti has long offered people around the world in pursuit of freedom.
Toussaint L’Ouverture, the leader of the Haitian Revolution, spoke these words in 1802 after being abducted by the French, which resonate with today’s attacks on Haitian immigrants and the growing resistance: “You have cut only the trunk of the tree of liberty. It will spring up again for its roots are numerous and deep!”
September 27, 2024
“Since last year, my kids are facing a lot of problems at school, like they were bullied by other kids,” says Marc, a Haitian immigrant with two young children living in Springfield, Ohio. He was too frightened by recent events there to give his full name to the media. “I had to move to another neighborhood because I was scared for them, and they were very traumatized, especially after all these things they’re saying in social media, that we’re eating dogs . . . . Even local officers say there’s no evidence.”
Marc’s experience—and the trauma his children have endured due to racist disinformation—is the direct result of lies spread by former President Donald Trump and U.S. Senator J.D. Vance, who falsely claimed that Haitian immigrants are stealing and eating local pets. This narrative was designed to stoke fear and division, and its consequences have been devastating. Since these rumors began circulating, Springfield schools have faced more than thirty bomb threats, leading to evacuations, closures, and immense psychological harm to students and their families. In response, the leader of The Haitian Bridge Alliance, an Ohio nonprofit, has brought legal charges against Trump and Vance for “disrupting public services, making false alarms, telecommunications harassment, aggravated menacing, and complicity.”
Rose-Thamar Joseph, the operations director at the Haitian Community Help and Support Center in Springfield, explains, “Some of them are talking about living in fear. Some of them are scared for their life.” The trauma is particularly profound for children.
Mia Perez, a Haitian mother in Springfield, describes how her daughter was evacuated from school twice in one week and asked by classmates, “How does the dog taste? How does the cat taste?”
“This is a conversation that I was not ready to have with my daughter. I felt disrespected of our culture,” she says.
Neo-Nazi groups like Blood Tribe have proudly taken credit for amplifying these lies and inciting hatred against Haitian immigrants. Christopher Pohlhaus, the leader of Blood Tribe, boasted on his Telegram channel that they had “pushed Springfield into the public consciousness,” and the group even organized an “anti-Haitian immigration march” in the city.
Members of Blood Tribe celebrated Trump’s lies as a victory, with one member posting on the far-right platform Gab, “The President is talking about it now. This is what real power looks like.” This is certainly what white supremacist power looks like: lies, bomb threats, demonization of immigrants, Black children afraid to attend school, and far-right extremists working in lockstep with figures like Trump and Vance to fuel fear and division.
Attacks like those in Springfield take root because of the deliberate suppression of historical truth. This suppression happens in routine ways all around the country, such as through whitewashed textbooks that hide the contributions of African Americans and erase Black history. The right has championed laws that ban the teaching of systemic racism, social justice movements, and stories of resistance to make it difficult for young people to understand how systems of oppression have been built, maintained, and challenged.
Astoundingly, nearly half of all public school students around the country today go to a school where their teachers are not allowed to discuss the history of racism and resistance with their students. When students aren’t taught about the Haitian Revolution, the Black freedom struggle, or how marginalized communities have resisted exploitation, they are vulnerable to fear-based narratives that target immigrants like Marc’s family.
The assault on honest education about racism and history has taken a specific toll in Ohio, where the state board of education has been directly implicated in these debates. After the murder of George Floyd in 2020, the board initially passed a resolution condemning racism and promoting equity in education. However, by 2021, the board succumbed to white supremacist backlash and repealed the anti-racism resolution. The replacement resolution stated that the board rejects critical race theory (CRT), and the state legislature has introduced several bills attempting to prohibit teaching about systemic racism.
By denying access to these essential histories, rightwing forces create fertile ground for disinformation to thrive. This is the context that allows fascist groups like Blood Tribe to manipulate public opinion and incite hate toward Haitian immigrants and other marginalized groups. Without the foundation of historical memory, communities are left vulnerable to manipulation, as the current wave of racist disinformation in Springfield demonstrates.
Widespread ignorance surrounding Haiti’s revolutionary history is one of the most glaring examples of knowledge suppression in the United States. The Haitian Revolution (1791–1804) was the only successful revolt of enslaved people who freed themselves and built their own country. Enslaved Africans overthrew French colonial rule—while also successfully defeating the armies of the English and Spanish empires—and established the first Black republic in the Western Hemisphere. Yet, this monumental act of resistance is often excluded or glossed over in American schools.
While the United States was still fully devoted to the barbaric practice of slavery, Haiti had established a constitution declaring all citizens equal under the law, regardless of race. For decades, the United States refused to recognize Haiti’s independence, deliberately isolating the country economically and politically. The United States and other Western powers were terrified of Haiti’s revolution, fearing it would inspire enslaved people throughout the Americas to demand freedom. As it turns out, that fear was justified. In 1811, Charles Deslonde, a leader of the largest slave revolt in U.S. history, was inspired by the Haitian Revolution to lead a rebellion in Louisiana. In addition, as historian Kellie Carter Jackson argued, “South America has Haiti to thank for its freedom in a lot of ways.” She pointed out that the island nation provided Simón Bolívar’s rebels with arms and soldiers to overthrow colonialism in Latin America on the condition that they abolish slavery.
Students are also seldom taught about the U.S. military occupation of Haiti from 1915 to 1934, during which the United States rewrote Haiti’s constitution to allow foreign land ownership and imposed forced labor on Haitian citizens. Thousands were killed during this brutal occupation, which was part of a broader pattern of U.S. imperialism in the Caribbean and Latin America, all under the guise of promoting stability. Ever since, the United States has worked to install and support dictators and illegitimate regimes in Haiti to serve the interests of U.S. corporations.
In the 1980s, Haitians faced another wave of dehumanization during the AIDS crisis when they were falsely labeled as one of the four “risk groups” for the disease, despite no scientific evidence supporting this claim. The stigma reinforced racist stereotypes and led to many Haitians being detained indefinitely at Guantanamo Bay in inhumane conditions.
The erasure of history allows figures like Trump and Vance to shift the blame for systemic failures onto immigrant communities, distracting from the real sources of inequality and injustice in the Americas. By hiding these truths from young people, policymakers deprive them of the knowledge needed to recognize patterns of exploitation, racism, and imperialism.
While Trump and Vance spread lies about Haitians eating pets, the true barbarity is that, as the legendary band Funkadelic famously titled their 1972 album, “America eats its young.”
The real savagery in the United States today is that gun violence is now the leading cause of death for children and teens, with more than 3,500 children’s lives lost to gun-related injuries in 2022 alone. Despite this horrifying reality, politicians remain beholden to the powerful gun lobby and refuse to prioritize children’s safety. Young people are also burdened by $1.7 trillion in student loan debt, trapping millions in a cycle of financial hardship as they enter the workforce with low wages and inadequate social supports. Meanwhile, child poverty surged to 12.4 percent in 2022, meaning nearly nine million children are living in households struggling to meet basic needs. Moreover, the U.S. incarcerates nearly 60,000 children—disproportionately Black, brown, and Indigenous—in youth jails on any given day.
Both the bomb threats made against schools in Springfield and the erasure of history in Ohio and beyond are a continuation of the devouring of youth in America—serving the same goal: to create a culture of ignorance and division. As Vance himself admitted of the claims he made about Haitians in Springfield, “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.” His words lay bare the cynical strategy of the attacks on immigrants, and also of the strategy for outlawing honest history: Keep people in fear by making up stories and then exploit their fears to gain power.
Haiti’s unrelenting resistance to oppression has much to teach us all. If we are ever going to achieve a society based on solidarity and equality—one that nourishes our young people, rather than consuming them—we must demand an education that dispels the racist lies about Haitians and teaches the truth about the hope and inspiration that Haiti has long offered people around the world in pursuit of freedom.
Toussaint L’Ouverture, the leader of the Haitian Revolution, spoke these words in 1802 after being abducted by the French, which resonate with today’s attacks on Haitian immigrants and the growing resistance: “You have cut only the trunk of the tree of liberty. It will spring up again for its roots are numerous and deep!”
Jesse Hagopian
Jesse Hagopian is a high school teacher and on the staff of the Zinn Education Project where he helps to lead the Teaching for Black Lives campaign based on the book he co-edited with the same name. He is also a member of Black for Palestine.Read more by Jesse Hagopian
September 27, 2024
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