By DAVID DUPONT
BG Independent News
Every month the congregants at Peace Lutheran in Bowling Green devote an offering to a charity.
The October beneficiary was already determined, then the controversy over Haitians immigrants in Springfield erupted. False accusations by Republican vice presidential JD Vance that were echoed by presidential Donald Trump about the Haitians created trauma, including threats of violence against the community.
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The congregation decided to switch gears and send October’s offering to the Haitian Community Help and Support Center.
The change was made said, Esther Nagel, “just because what’s happening in Springfield is wrong.”
The congregation was “110%” in favor of the move.
This is all in tune with the church’s principle of “doing community good,” said Ewart Skinner, a member of the church.
Skinner, a retired BGSU professor of communications, said that people should know the history of the relations between Haiti and the United States.
The accusations are based on the notion that Haitians are foreigners, Skinner said. But the stories of the two nations are closely intertwined.
When the enslaved people of Haiti revolted and won their independence from France. The loss of the money earned by the colony led Napoleon decide to shed France of its North American holdings and negotiated the sale of the 828,000 square mile Louisiana Territory to the United States.
Haitians were involved in the defense of New Orleans during the War of 1812.
Despite winning its independence, Skinner said, Haiti was required to pay “reparations” to France for the loss of the territory and its enslaved population.
These payments which continued until 1947 hobbled the country’s economy.
The country has suffered from a string of corrupt regimes, and a serious of natural disasters, most recently an earthquake in 2021 and Hurricane Matthew in 2016. These natural disasters caused political upheaval, and led to a surge of legal immigration.
