As some of you may know, I served as pastor to two different churches in Springfield, Ohio. I taught philosophy at Wittenberg University in Springfield for many years. Recent reports in the news have resulted in an avalanche of attention to this small city of 58,000 souls. The sudden spotlighting of a community that is already suffering has led to an increase in verbal abuse, mocking, hysteria, and unwanted attention. The Spectacle grows.
Several days ago, Springfield City Manager Bryan Heck put out this statement:
Today we learned that multiple city, county and school buildings around Springfield were closed after a bomb threat was received that threatened “multiple facilities throughout Springfield,” according to a city statement released Thursday morning. Springfield City Hall was evacuated around 8:30 a.m.
Concerned about what was happening in the city that I called home for many years, I reached out to some friends and former congregants to see how they were doing, and how the city was coping.
One of the former members of the first church I served in Springfield (First Baptist Church on South Fountain Avenue, a progressive American Baptist Church) directed me to a PBS News Hour report, which I found to be very useful in helping to explain the background of the recent flux of Haitian migrant families to Springfield.
Watching the PBS news report, I was blessed to see my former church, and my pastoral mentor, Wes Babian (retired), and to learn that FBC has welcomed Haitian families into their congregation. One of them, Luckens Merzius, was featured in the story. Mr. Merzius, like other Haitians, fled Haiti for fear of his safety. He still dreams of his country at night. He would love to go home someday.
If you watch the video carefully, you will also see footage of the Rocking Horse Center, which Wes and our church helped establish on the corner lot by the church. On a city block filled with crack houses, drugs, and despair, the church bought the entire block, mortgaging its building to do so! How’s that for faith? The church then brokered a deal with two area hospitals, who partnered with a gifted and visionary pediatrician, Dr. Jim Duffey, to open the Rocking Horse Center, which serves this medically underserved population. Watching the video, it warmed my heart to see that the Rocking Horse Center has expanded. I still remember the “Pentecost for the Poor Rally” that I organized in front of City Hall, where city leaders got together and began the initial conversation that led to the creation of Rocking Horse. For me, it is just one story of how the “realm of God” came to us, as slum housing was torn down (a serial murderer of children had lived in the very place where Rocking Horse now stands). You can watch the PBS News Hour Report on Springfield, here.
I tell you all of this to illustrate how easy it is to be distracted by media spectacle, and how important it is to hear “the story behind the story.” We may laugh at some of the funny “memes” of dogs and cats that have been circulating all over the internet mocking the bizarre comments of some political leaders, but my friends in Springfield tell me they are exhausted by all the memes, which no longer seem funny to them. They live there. The threat of violence to their city, and to them, is very real.
Springfield Police Chief Allison Elliott said at today’s press conference that City Hall, the Bureau of Motor Vehicles, the Springfield Driver’s Exam Station, Ohio License Bureau on the south side, Springfield Academy of Excellence and Fulton Elementary School were all named in the threat and cleared using explosive-detecting canines. Fulton Elementary School is just a few blocks from where I used to live, near First Baptist Church.
My heart goes out to the residents of Springfield and to the estimated 15,000 Haitian migrants who went there looking for a better life, for employment in the manufacturing sector, for a little bit of hope, a little bit of justice. They have been scapegoated.
French theorist Renė Girard identified the “scapegoat mechanism” as the way threatened communities deal with the problem of violence: they overcome their internal strife by selecting a victim. The victim is always the most powerless, the most defenseless, the most vulnerable. In this case, Haitians living legally in Springfield, who were recruited to come to Ohio by small business owners to ease a sever labor shortage. Our inability as a nation to come together to create a solution to the issue of immigration has led to scapegoating and continued threats of violence.
When we scapegoat, we project what is dark, shameful, and denied about ourselves onto others. This “shadow” side of our personality, as Carl Jung called it, represents hidden or wounded aspects of ourselves, “the thing a person has no wish to be.”
Please keep Springfield, Ohio, and our nation in your prayers daily. And say a prayer for Luckens Merzius, his family, the Haitian people who long to return to their homeland, and First Baptist Church on South Fountain Avenue, a church still holding out the light and hope of the gospel in a dark time.
Mahalo, Kahu Gary, brilliantly written of your first-hand experience and so admire all who worked for Rocking Horse to be a center of healing, safety, true kinship. Prayin’….
Mahalo, Laurie
Mahalo, Kahu Gary. The brazen scapegoating of immigrants, and especially of late, these Haitian refugees in order to push a political agenda is an abominable, clear manipulation of voter attitudes. May those who have been enamored of the candidates who promote these lies wake up to the truth of who they are and the xenophobic racism they clearly encourage. I thank God for a church like First Baptist on South Fountain Avenue, and the many other good souls of Springfield, OH, who choose to live and minister compassionately within their community. Is there a way we can help further their ministry through a symbolic means of standing with them and the Haitian community (i.e., through providing monetary assistance, sending positive written messages, as well as focusing our prayerful meditations)? Please advise, so that we can share within our own `ohana and other contacts. Mahalo for your thoughtful message, which underscores the serious complexities and consequences of such callous comments as promoted by the male presidential candidate and his team. Let us be Light and help make a positive impact on the lives of these refugees.
Mahalo, Danette. in a word: yes! There are ways that our ‘Ohana can stand with FBC and with the Haitian community in Springfield, with the city of Springfield itself, and to prayerfuly respond to God’s call to justice globally. Your wonderful response has prompted some deeper reflection, and I have reached out to friends at FBC about next steps. I will post a follow up soon–stay tuned, everyone. Let’s continue
I really appreciate this perspective. This perspective is sorely needed and then our general population. Is there a way to engage more in this discussion? Is there a way to disseminate the truth about a small town on social media that will make an impact. I’ve had personally a very hard time with the “funny“ memes, but I don’t have any basis in fact. You have presented some important information in your Article.
I’m a teacher in Springfield and our kids are scared. We were dismissed early today due to the ongoing threats. Thank you for your wonderful message.
Aloha Laura. I’m terribly sorry to hear that, and yes, I heard the news today that schools had closed–again–due to new threats. I was especially thinking of Perrin Woods today, where I used to hep run an after school program with a 21st Century grant. Where do you teach? Please be assured of our prayers here on Maui. Is there a specific way we can be helpful to you and your students?