Congressman Glen Clay Higgins claims Haitian immigrants eat pets in Ohio

In September 2024, US Congressman Glen Clay Higgins responded to an Associated Press article about Haitians in Springfield, Ohio, who filed charges against former President Donald Trump and Senator J.D. Vance. In his post on X, Higgins criticized the charges while making an inflammatory remark suggesting that during that time, over 5,000 Haitians were deported from other countries, with approximately half from the Bahamas. This comment adds to the ongoing discourse around anti-Haitian sentiment in various regions, particularly in the context of historical and contemporary racism, political marginalization, and social stigmatization faced by Haitians. The Dominican Republic has long exemplified a form of anti-Haitianism marked by systemic discrimination and violence against individuals of Haitian descent. Such actions and sentiments are echoed in the Bahamas, a nation with a history of anti-Haitian actions, including the recent deportation of 228 Haitians following Hurricane Dorian’s devastation. The response to the Haitian populace has raised questions about the social structures contributing to anti-Haitianism and how it reflects broader themes of racial dynamics in the Caribbean and beyond. Scholarship that examines the phenomenon of anti-Haitianism, notably works by researchers like Gina Athena Ulysse, argue that this ongoing marginalization signifies a unique and troubling form of racism — one that delineates a hierarchy within blackness itself. The complexities of this issue have been captured in literature exploring the stigma attached to Haitian identity and experience in various countries, including The Bahamas and the Dominican Republic. Ultimately, Higgins’s comments serve to highlight not only the widespread misconceptions that perpetuate anti-Haitianism but also the urgent need for informed public discourse surrounding the challenges that Haitians face globally. The failure of entities such as the United Nations to fully address the aftermath of the cholera epidemic, which disproportionately affected Haitians, further illustrates the systemic neglect of Haitian lives and the stereotypes that dehumanize a community struggling for recognition and justice. The persistence of these narratives in political spaces continues to marginalize Haitians in the Americas, reflecting a deeper issue of racial injustice that spans nations.