During the height of the coronavirus pandemic, Hsa Win and his mother were verbally attacked outside a North Hill store.
He remembers an old white man pushing him, chasing him and his mother, calling the pair “Chinese virus” and telling them to “go back where we come from.”
“During pandemic, I felt like I have to wear double masks,” said Win, 25, a refugee from Myanmar. “The first mask, the first layer, I have to protect myself from the virus. The second layer, I had to protect myself from the racist people.”
Even so, the Akron resident was astonished when he heard former President Donald Trump repeat false claims about Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, during last month’s presidential debate.
Despite the fact that Springfield officials have said there is no evidence to support claims that Haitian immigrants in Springfield were stealing and eating household pets, Trump and his Republican running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, continued to spread the baseless allegations. As a result of the unsubstantiated rumors, businesses, schools and government buildings in Springfield faced temporary shutdowns last month due to threats of violence.
The effects aren’t contained to Springfield. Years after the North Hill attack, Win said his mother still refuses to shop at the store where they were harassed.
“This type of language is very dangerous. It traumatizes us,” he said.
He sees echoes of that experience in politicians’ statements about Haitian immigrants. Regardless of where...
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