A Springfield, Ohio, woman accused her neighbor of racism after she protested the perceived increase in traffic accidents caused by Haitians.
Blaze News' Julio Rosas spoke to several local residents outside Springfield City Hall on Sept. 24 as they waited to attend a well-attended city commission meeting. .
“It's nothing but 1960s hatred. That's all.”
One woman told Ms. Rosas that she believed the biggest problem facing the area was not due to the influx of Haitian nationals, but rather “hatred” among the neighbors.
“There's no reason. These people aren't losing anything, but it might take them a little longer to get in line,” she said.
“They haven't taken a penny, they haven't taken their homes, they haven't taken anything. They're working here and building society,” she said of the Haitians in the city. The city has become much better. ”
The resident's comments directly contradict concerns expressed by many other local residents, including soaring rents and a housing shortage across the region since the roughly 20,000 Haitian nationals moved to the capital region. .
The resident admitted to neighbors that Haitian drivers were causing an increase in traffic accidents.
On the first day of school in August 2023, a Haitian man crashes a school bus, killing an 11-year-old boy and hospitalized 20 others.
“That was a problem, but at the same time there were a lot of people speeding up and down the street,” the resident declared.
“Now you know Haitians are driving. Just drive carefully,” she advised. “You know how they drive. Yes, that's a problem, but until they're fully trained, be more careful. It's simple.”
As many local residents recently told Blaze News, the resident continued to flatly deny neighbors' claims that a Haitian man was tailing the woman around the retail store.
“Oh, no way,” she replied. “They want to be followed in-store, and no, they're not followed in-store.”
Asked if she thought people who make such claims were lying, she replied: “Yes, I think they are lying.”
“It's all about hate,” she said. “It's back to the 60's again.”
“The biggest problem they really have is that there are too many black people,” she continued. “They're scared of us. They always are.”
She expressed frustration that many of the local residents speaking at the meeting did not stay with the entire discussion.
“They stay here long enough to complain, we get just two minutes of them on camera, and then we turn to business. So what are we going to do with the city's money and stuff? And if you “Then the next thing you know, the room will be empty,” she said.
Despite previously claiming that the immigrants “haven't taken a dime” from residents, the city has allocated resources to organizations that work with Haitian communities to help them learn how to drive and speak English. she told Rosas.
“They're putting everything into action. It's not going to happen overnight. Please give them some time,” she declared.
He said he hoped former President Donald Trump, the Republican presidential candidate, would not visit Springfield, saying he was concerned it would “cause further chaos.”
“It's going to cause more hatred. There's going to be more people making bomb threats and things like that,” she said.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) recently said the bomb threats were all hoaxes and came from overseas, Blaze News previously reported.
When confronted with this information, she told Rosas, “Maybe. It might be true.”
“But if these people had some empathy instead of hatred in their hearts, none of this would have happened,” she continued. “It's nothing but 1960s hatred. That's all.”
Do you like Blaze News? Avoid censorship and sign up for our newsletter to get articles like this delivered straight to your inbox. Please register here!
