the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
Sep 16, 2024
Haitian immigrants in Springfield have been living in fear and tension for over three weeks. Many families have already left the city due to violent verbal threats from racist groups. Bomb threats and rising tensions in this Ohio town led to the lockdown of some elementary schools on Friday, September 13. For over a week, Haitian parents had already decided not to send their children to school.
This situation originated from a Facebook post by a Springfield resident named Erika Lee, accusing Haitians of stealing and eating the dogs and cats of Springfield residents, a city suffering from a 22% unemployment rate. This absurd and baseless accusation quickly spread across social media and accelerated on September 9, when J.D. Vance, the Republican vice-presidential candidate, claimed that Springfield residents had reported that their pets had been “abducted and eaten by Haitian migrants.”
During the presidential debate on September 10, Donald Trump repeated the claim. Trump also targeted Venezuelan migrants living in Aurora, Colorado, blaming them for the rise in crime in that area. The Republican presidential candidate is aiming to stir up the basest instincts of American society to win the upcoming November presidential election.
This insidious strategy is not new, particularly for the Republican Party. Remember, during his 2016 campaign, Donald Trump labeled Mexicans as “rapists” and “drug traffickers.”
Immigrants, whether they are Haitians, Venezuelans, Mexicans, Africans, Asians, Latinos, or others, are primarily workers fleeing poverty, wars, and oppressive regimes, often created or supported by American imperialism.
The true culprits behind unemployment, poverty, economic insecurity, and crime are the capitalists and multinationals from imperialist countries like the U.S., which exploit both American workers and immigrants from abroad. This is why the fight against racism and xenophobia cannot be separated from the fight against capitalism. Attacking immigrant workers is, in reality, an attack on the entire working class.